DDM: Digimon and Duel Monsters
by Seth Turtle
Summary: An AU mega-crossover starring Digimon Tamers and Yu-Gi-Oh, and co-starring Pokemon and Cardcaptor Sakura. Heroes come together at a strange tournament that will mark the ressurection of an ultimate power.
1. Game Start! Test Against the Robot Girl!

** OPENING CREDITS **

[IMAGE] Yami looks towards the horizon, over a vast island where a crystal castle lies at the end. The camera shows images of many other characters, including Takato Matsuki, Sakura Kinomoto, Ash Ketchum, and a Yami-look-alike with red bangs instead of blonde.

__

This bloody road remains a mystery... This sudden darkness fills the air...  
What are we waiting for? Won't anybody help us? What are we waiting for?

[IMAGE] Yami leaps across a "dimensional barrier", falling into a digital world in the clothes of a Pharoah. He summons the Dark Magician and unleashes his fury on his enemy.

__

We can't afford to be innocent! Stand up and face the enemy!  
It's a do or die situation! We will be invincible!  


And with the power of conviction... There is no sacrifice  
It's a do or die situation... We will be invincible!

[IMAGE] Zero summons Exodia, who is surrounded by monsters summoned by the main characters. The monsters charge together, and explode into the title screen.

--

****

D*D*M: Digimon and Duel Monsters

Throughout time, people have defined strength by defeating each other. In modern times, even rival corporations have sought to prove their power by crushing their opponents in mediums that also serve to increase their wealth. One such example is "Capcom vs. SNK", a series of fighting games designed to sell while creating the illusion of a fight between corporations.

Today, that illusion will become a reality. A joint partnership between Industrial Illusions' owner Maximillion Pegasus and the owner of Kaiba Corp, young Seto Kaiba, will enable the greatest collectible card games in history to duke it out in one incredible tournament to see which game has the stronger players. This tournament, called Monster Duel Extreme, will involve all the collectible card games owned and created by Industrial Illusions, including such renowned games as Duel Monsters, Digimon, Pokemon, and and a slew of others. Players from all over the world will participate in the tournament that both companies believe will be remembered as the greatest joint effort in the history of game entertainment.

Mr. Pegasus and Mr. Kaiba were both unavailable for comment, but they were both represented by official tournament liason, Zero Muto. He spoke with Tokyo 39's Sunn Arika yesterday morning. 

"Both of these men have put a lot of effort into creating games that were fun, and above all, able to fit into a greater picture, like the pieces of a puzzle," says Muto. "Since these two companies were created, they have worked with the goal in mind that every game they created would be compatible with every other game, even though the rules and target audiences would be quite different. To implement this dream, all Kaiba Corp game cards use cardsteel material as opposed to cardboard, enabling our cards to withstand centuries of use and survive under extreme game conditions, such as those used in the popular Digimon game and its Card Slash battle system. Another example is the numeric code placed on every game card, which allows you to input the card into your favorite Industrial Illusions video games and use them, regardless of the story world the game is based in."

Sunn asked what the goal of this Ultimate Compatibility was. Zero simply smiled and said, "That's a secret. However, I promise that the answer will be revealed when the tournament reaches its climax."

We asked whether the events with the D-Reaper and the mysterious deaths at the Duelist Kingdom tournament have left a stain on either companies' reputations that may affect the tournament. Zero responded in the negative, saying that those events were completely unrelated to the card games, and were merely the results of sick-minded individuals attempting to throw the honor of Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions into disarray.

The recently announced 'Monster Duel EX' tournament will be held at an island located several miles away from the Japanese coast. The island, dubbed "Monster Island" by gaming insiders, is reputed to house entire cities designed with never-before-seen Dueling technology and state-of-the-art Virtual Reality systems as developed by Kaiba Corp. So whether you're a casual fan of the Strategy Gaming sport, or a fan of anime looking for the fight of a lifetime, then you don't want to miss this. More coming soon!

~~ Excerpt from Japanese Entertainment magazine.

--

(Shinjuku, Japan)

Takato walked from school with dejection plainly written on his face. Even after a wonderful last day of school, the boy seemed unable to cheer up. He thought that a day filled with pizza, throwing pies at teachers, and hanging out with his friends would make him forget his problem. But nothing could make him forget about Guilmon.

He passed by an old stone shelter, which until recently was Guilmon's home. After fighting the D-Reaper and changing the polarization of all the Digimon in the world, he had to move back to the Digital World where he belonged. Takato didn't like saying that he "belonged" there, because he really belonged with him! It didn't matter if he was made of data instead of DNA - he should be at home with him eating bread!

It didn't matter what he thought though. The process used to destroy the D-Reaper was irreversible, meaning that Guilmon and the others couldn't come back to the real world anymore. Similarly, the children couldn't go back to the Digital World unless they wanted to be microwaved into a million pieces. The gateway to the Digital World was still open, and it was _so close..._ but they couldn't use it.

Takato stared at the spot where the portal existed, and watched as a tiny butterfly flew towards it. One usually did so every day around this time, as if it had become some kind of ritual among the bugs in the area. Takato watched sadly as the butterfly flew into the portal itself, only to burst into flames and fall to the ground as charred butterfly guts. It was really disgusting, but it was the butterflies who had inadvertently warned them that the portal was unusable. For now.

__

I'll find a way Guilmon, Takato thought. _I promise._

"Takato!" said a girl's voice. The boy turned around just in time to see the girl jump at him. He managed to catch her, but not without falling over and landing on his back with her on top of him. He was dizzy for a moment from the sudden crash. It took him a moment to realize who it was. "Jeri?!"

"Hi!" she said, smiling brightly. After everything that happened during the D-Reaper fiasco, Jeri had opened up to Takato and his friends - especially to Takato. Now they were a couple and actually dating! Well, at least as much as twelve-year-olds dated.

Takato thought about getting up, but decided not to. He found himself enjoying this. He was at that age where anything a girl did was enjoyable. Also, he discovered a while ago that Jeri was stronger than he was in addition to being taller. So he couldn't get up even if he wanted to.

Jeri noticed the boy's sad demeanor. "What's wrong Takato? I thought you'd be happy that school's over."

Takato sighed. "I am..."

"Are you not happy to see me?" she said fearfully.

The boy smiled. "No way! I'm always happy to see you." He lightly kissed Jeri on the cheek, making the young girl blush. "Unless of course you're trying to crush the life out of me at the time."

Jeri's other hand suddenly popped up, but in the form of her puppet. "Hey, you're supposed to catch her, not fall down!" the puppet said. Jeri was getting to be very good at the ventriloquism act; her lips didn't even move when the puppet talked anymore.

Takato smirked. "Oh, I forgot that part," he said sarcastically. Jeri finally got up, and Takato did as well. The puppet went back to its home in Jeri's dress pocket, allowing the two children to hold hands as they walked quietly through the park.

"Takato, what's bothering you?" Jeri asked, breaking the silence.

The boy sighed again. "I'm just thinking about Guilmon again."

Jeri frowned sympathetically. She, more than anyone, knew how it felt to miss your Digimon. She had more control over her emotions now, but she still felt the pain of the loss of her own partner, Leomon. Even though Guilmon hadn't died like Leomon had, Takato had to be feeling a similar pain. Takato was emotional like Jeri, but in a different sense.

"We'll figure something out," Jeri said, gently squeezing the boy's hand. "I know we will."

Takato looked up at her. "I wish I could be as sure as you. I've thought of a million things we could try, but none of them would work."

"Maybe we're just not thinking hard enough," Jeri suggested. "Or maybe we just need some new ideas."

"Or maybe I should just let the smart people like Rika and Henry come up with the plan," Takato said wryly.

Jeri scooped up a daisy on the side of the road. "There's always a way, Takato. We just have to wait for the answer to pop up." She offered the daisy to him. "Right?"

Takato looked at the flower unsurely, then took it. "Right." He put the flower in his shorts pocket for safe keeping. "Thanks Jeri. You're the smartest girl I know."

Jeri smiled. "I'm not the smartest girl you know..." Suddenly she snatched his goggles and dashed down the street. "...but I'm definitely the fastest!"

"Hey!" Takato ran after the giggling girl. He laughed as he chased her through the park, forgetting his worries for at least a moment.

--

(Domino City, Japan)

Yugi Muto waited as the boy opposite him looked at the cards in his hand. "Come on, Joey. You can do it."

Joey stared at his cards, sweatdrops lining his face. "Hmm... I can't do it. It's too tough!"

"Come on Joey!" Tea cheered nearby. "You can do this! Just concentrate and think before you choose!"

"But what if I choose the wrong one?!"

"Trust in yourself Joey!" Yugi said. "You can do this!"

Joey growled for a second as he psyched himself up. "Err...okay!! I choose _this _one!" he shouted, slapping the card down on the table.

The cashier just sweatdropped. "Will this be all, sir?"

Joey nodded firmly as he put the other birthday cards down. "Yes! I'm definitely choosing this one!"

The cashier shrugged and slid the card across the price scanner. "That'll be 450 Yen please."

"Sheesh, I could buy a Happy Meal with that money!" Joey snapped, handing over a 500-Yen coin.

"Well, you said you wanted a nice card for Serenity," Tristan reminded him. "You've really got to dish out the dough if you want a nice card."

"Yeah, yeah," Joey muttered. "I just wish there was some money leftover from that $3 million dollar prize." Joey growled under his breath about doctor's being the spawns of evil. He took his change and left the shop, birthday card in tow.

"Hey guys, have you heard about that?" Tristan said as they passed a billboard talking about the 'Monster Duel EX' tournament.

"Yeah," Tea said. "I can't believe Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions are sponsoring another tournament together!"

"I guess those guys have to work together to keep the money rolling," said Joey. "It's impossible for Kaiba and Pegasus to work together again, now that he's gone."

Yugi walked over to a card shop to buy some more Duel Monsters cards with his allowance. "Yeah, but now that I own all Pegasus' shares, I have to deal with Kaiba on a daily basis," Yugi reminded them. Part of Yugi's prize at Duelist Kingdom for defeating Pegasus was to win 60% of the company's shares, effectively making Yugi the owner of the company. Since he was only a shareholder though, Yugi didn't have much to do with the daily workings of the company, but he had to be present for certain meetings to vote on major decisions the company made. It was a tedious job, but it gave Yugi an allowance of sorts.

"Yeah, but still," Joey cut in. "After everything that Kaiba and Mokuba went through because of Pegasus and his company, I didn't think he'd want anything to do with Industrial Illusions again."

"Well, the tournament looks legit," said Tristan. "Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions are putting a lot of weight in this."

"If Kaiba's involved, it's probably some scheme to take over the world, or turn everybody into his slaves," Tea said sowerly. It was no secret that she hated Kaiba, almost as much as Kaiba hated Yugi. After what Kaiba did to Yugi at the Duelist Kingdom, she was never able to forgive him.

Yugi grabbed his two booster packs and thanked the cashier. "I guess we'll never know."

Tristan stuttered. "What? You mean you're not going to the tournament, Yugi?"

Yugi smiled. "Of course not Tristan. The only reason I went to the Duelist Kingdom was because Pegasus stole my grandpa's soul. I don't care about playing in another tournament."

"But Yugi, you're a champion now!" Joey said. "You've gotta protect your position, you know? And if I'm going, then you _have_ to go! I got invited!"

Yugi blinked. "But... why? You'd do fine on your own."

"Joey, just forget it," Tea warned him. "Yugi's right; there's no point in going to the tournament, especially if it's one sponsored by Kaiba."

Joey sighed. "I feel like I'm talking to the wrong person." The young man bent down and knocked on Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. "Hello? Anyone awake in there?"

Yugi pulled the Millennium Puzzle away and cradled it. (Joey, not here!) the boy whispered. (We're in the middle of a store!)

"Oh come on, nobody'll notice," Joey assured him. "The only reason we notice is because of the way you act when 'he' comes out."

"Yeah," Tristan said, backing up his friend. "And besides, Joey's actually got a point. What does 'he' think about all this?"

"Guys!" Tea snapped. The other two shrunk back.

Yugi sighed. "All right. Just a second." He closed his eyes, and waited. The others held their breaths, not sure what was going to happen next.

__

*ping*

Yami opened his eyes. "..."

Joey cleared his throat. "Uh... Yugi?"

Yami crossed his arms slowly. "What do you want, Joey."

Joey started to get nervous. He didn't like the way Yami was looking at him. "Eh heh... um... I was wondering what you thought of... of..."

"Of what," he said, growing impatient.

Tea sighed. "Come here." She half-dragged the King of Games by his arm until they were in front of the billboard advertizing the tournament. "Joey and Tristan, for some _odd_ reason, think you'd want to go to this lame-brain excuse for a contest."

Yami looked at the poster quietly. "Monster Duel EX... These monsters look unfamiliar, and the children in this picture look like their Mokuba's age rather than Yugi's age."

Tea looked at the other two boys. "See? I told you he wouldn't go!"

Yami held his hand up. "Actually, Tea... this tournament intrigues me."

"See! I- what?!" Tea gasped. 

Yami looked at the billboard more closely, as if looking for something hidden in the picture. As he did, an image flashed in his head. It was an image from his memories, long ago - memories that were forbidden to him. The image was of a girl, dressed in the garb of a Hebrew.

"Yes, I'm definitely going to be at the tournament."

Tea looked at him incredulously. "B-b-but, why?!"

Yami smiled wryly. "Someone there is waiting for me." Suddenly he changed, becoming the 'normal' Yugi. The boy blinked a few times, clearing his perceptions.

"So there you have it," Tristan said, shocked. "He's going."

Yugi looked concerned. "Why would 'he' want to go? It doesn't make any sense; it felt like he was remembering something... or rather, some-one." 

"Someone? What did they look like, Yugi?" Tea asked.

Yugi blushed a little. "A girl... a pretty one. She was dressed like a slave or something."

Tea's eyes widened. "A WHAT!!?" She grabbed Yugi by the collar, almost picking him up off the floor. "What half-naked girl are you looking at!!?"

Joey laughed, breaking the moment. "Whatever the reason, I'm okay with it! We're going to the tournament!" he cheered, slapping Yugi on the back and consequentially knocking him over. "And I'm going to kick me some butt and become rich! RICH I tells ya!" Joey laughed maniacally as Tea resumed her interrogation of Yugi.

Tristan facevaulted. "This is bad; I know it."

--

(Kaiba Corporation || Laboratory)

Kaiba watched with subdued glee as one of the opponents on the field burst into millions of tiny data particles as his life points went to zero. The other opponent stood there quietly, not moving or even responding to the sight of his opponent disappearing before his very eyes. The surviving player disappeared from view as the lights dimmed on that side of the field.

Kaiba removed his headset as Mokuba and two company engineers deactivated the Duel. "I think we're ready for testing with live subjects."

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Seto?" the younger Kaiba asked. "The Duel Ark may be functioning properly, but up until now we've been using holographic duelists for the testing. The Mini Cyber program is still acting up."

"...It's what Zero wants," Kaiba said icily. "Every competitor's Duel Ark must carry the program. Otherwise, all our planning is for naught." Kaiba turned and picked up his personalized Duel Ark. It was a black glove with a card reader built around the wrist and back of the gauntlet, as well as several slots used for gameplay. Kaiba slid the glove into place, and made sure his deck was in his pocket. "I'm going down there. See that the duelBot is prepared by the time I arrive."

"Seto, please!!" Mokuba cried. His brother stopped in his tracks. "I don't want you to do this! This program is dangerous! You could disappear into one of the digital worlds and never come back!"

Kaiba smirked at his brother. "I have faith in your abilities as an engineer, Mokuba. You'll make sure I'm safe. I know you will." The elder Kaiba left the room, and the automated door slid shut behind him. Mokuba could do nothing but stare silently at the door. He hoped that he was as skilled as his brother thought.

Kaiba reached the floor area in a minute's time. He entered the duel field, which was simply a cargo room built out of steel and flexiglass, with white lines drawn on the floor to indicate the areas each player should stand. Engineers were working on repairing the damage caused by the last duel by the holographic force generators. Kaiba quickly grew impatient with their presence. "Everyone clear the area." Without question, the engineers raced out of the room.

One of the engineers in the command center with Mokuba spoke into the loudspeaker. _"Mr. Kaiba sir. We have a duelBot on Standby. This robot has been outfitted with a Level 9 dueling AI, as well as a Slash Rate of 0.39 seconds. That puts it at the human limit of slashing speed."_

"What deck will it be using?" Kaiba asked as he made a casual check of his Duel Ark.

_"It is using a beatdown deck composed of Card Captor cards,"_ the engineer said. _"The Deck's power level is 1890, the same as your current Duel Monsters deck."_

Mokuba again became worried. "Seto, the program doesn't hold up well when there are powerful cards in a duel. If your deck fights this deck, you're definitely going to experience a malfunction. You could get hurt, or..."

"We have to make these usable for the tournament by tomorrow morning," Kaiba said simply. "That means we have seven hours to make sure the Duel Arks, the holograph projectors, and the Mini Cyber program are all at optimum efficiency. I don't have time to worry about safety." Kaiba slid his deck into the appropriate slot of his gauntlet, and a life point total of 4000 appeared in the display reader. "Let's go."

The engineer looked at Mokuba, who didn't say or do nothing in reply. He just gazed at his big brother down below. The engineer promised himself that he wouldn't let Mokuba or Mr. Kaiba down, and turned his attention to the controls. _"Activating duelBot."_

One of the Type III duelBots ascended from the floor of the dueling arena. This brand of robot used advanced animatronic techniques and synthetics to look completely human, and had an AI to support that illusion. This particular robot looked like a young girl with brown hair, roughly 10 years of age. She was dressed in a flowery pink uniform like the kind you'd see in a girl's anime. Her eyes were trembling fearfully, as if she were on stage at a school play for the first time.

"...Who's this?" Kaiba asked.

_"That's Sakura Kinomoto,"_ the engineer answered. Kaiba looked up at the command center, expecting more of an explanation. He knew who Kinomoto was; he was an archaeologist who worked with Industrial Illusions to search for ancient Egyptian ruins and other areas that could be used for game production. Kinomoto was a nice man, who took care of Mokuba for Kaiba on occasion when he took over his foster father's company. _"She's designed to look like his daughter. We were intending to surprise him, but we thought it would be more painful than pleasurable. She's been living with Akman for a while now."_

Kaiba smirked at Mokuba, who was darting glances at the girl. The duelist returned his attention to his opponent, who hadn't moved since she appeared. "So, Sakura, do you know how to talk, or hasn't that ability been programmed into you?"

Sakura slowly took two steps forward, and the platform behind her lowered into the recesses below. It startled her, but she quickly recovered. She stumbled to the white box that represented her location for the duel. "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba sir. I-I'm ready when you are." Her cheeks were bright red. Kaiba guessed that was supposed to be cute.

"Turn on your Duel Ark, and let's get started." Sakura obeyed. She pressed a button on her gauntlet, and the holographic projectors built into the gauntlet activated. Her life point count was set to 4000.

"Uh...Uhm.... where did I put those cards that Mokuba gave me." Sakura padded her frilly costume, until finally she looked up with an embarassed smile. "I guess I forgot to bring them with me." Half of the operators in the area fell over.

A vein in Kaiba's head started to bulge. "Mo...ku...ba..."

Mokuba sweatdropped and turned on his headset. _"Sakura, you put them in your purse last night, remember?"_

"Oh yeah!" she said. "I forgot... sorry Mokuba." She held her hands behind her back. "I didn't mean to ruin your duel."

_"It's not ruined. Stepdad knew you would forget, so he's been on standby just in case. He's probably bringing them right now."_ Kaiba guessed that "Stepdad" was Akman, the engineer taking care of this machine. What a waste of technology she was. This idiot had a Level 9 AI?

An engineer ran into the room, and cheerful Sakura greeted him as he rushed past Kaiba. The old man spoke to Sakura quickly as he gave her the deck she would be using. Sakura nodded as she listened. Finally, Akman wished her luck and cleared the room. Kaiba gave him a cold stare as he vacated.

"...Are we ready now?" Kaiba said, his annoyance VERY apparent.

_"We're ready, Big Brother,"_ Mokuba replied. _"Sakura, I know you don't like this, but we need you to activate your Duel Mode."_

Sakura smiled sweetly. "...Anything you want, Mokuba." The boy blushed, but only the engineers with him saw it. They chuckled warmly.

Kaiba gasped as his opponent's personality did a 180-degree shift. Sakura's childish eyes suddenly became cold and determined. Her cute demeaner was replaced by that of a powerful warrior - one ready to battle to the death if need be. Kaiba felt like he was staring at... Yugi. One moment, he was looking at an innocent child. The next... he was facing a monster.

DUEL MODE ACTIVATED, Sakura's robotic voice said. LIFE POINTS SET TO MAXIMUM. _Crossover Battle_ RULES LOADED AND ANALYZED. THIS UNIT IS READY TO DUEL.

Kaiba smiled. "Finally. Then let's go!!" Kaiba drew five cards with one draw, while the robot drew the same number of cards. As part of the rules, Kaiba chose a monster to serve as his starting fighter. Sakura would do the same. "And my first monster is the Koumori Dragon!" The violet-scaled dragon appeared on the field, poised beside its summoner as it waited for an opponent. **1500/1200 ** Kaiba didn't choose whether it was in Attack or Defense mode, since the crossover rules didn't use modes of that kind.

Sakura chose a monster as well, and placed it in the Active Slot of her gauntlet. THIS UNIT CHOOSES _Spirit of Dash._ A tiny, green-furred fox creature appeared on the field beside Sakura. On its forehead was a purple crystal that sparkled in the dim light of the duel field. Like the Koumori Dragon, it was an average-level monster.

Kaiba wished he knew more about the Card Captors game, but he never bothered with kiddy stuff like that. Now he regretted it. You had to study the opposition, regardless of what that opposition was. His Duel Ark said that the Spirit of Dash had the same power level as Koumori Dragon - Level 4. But its offensive and defensive abilities weren't mentioned with the data. Kaiba liked being absolutely sure of what his opponent was planning, but in this case he had to fight blind. "Koumori Dragon, go!!" The dragon responded immediately, flying into battle quickly.

ATTACK, Sakura said coldly. Dash charged into the fray, leaping at the much-larger dragon monster. Dash easily avoided the Koumori Dragon's attacks, as it was much faster. Meanwhile, the tiny creature was clawing, scratching, and biting the dragon every chance it got. Each attack weakened the dragon, and unless Kaiba did something it would mean the end for his dragon.

_I have to slash a card,_ Kaiba said. As per the rules, he could have five cards at any given time, including his monster on the field, so he had to make do with the four cards in his hand. Luckily, one of those cards was a decent monster card. He couldn't summon it, since he could only have one monster in play at a time, but he could add its power to his dragon. He just hoped it was enough. _Well, here goes..._

"Modify!!" Kaiba shouted as he slashed the card through the Duel Ark as fast as he could. The faster the slash, the more power the card generated, so he had to give it everything he had. "La Djinn, empower Koumori Dragon!" The spiritual essence of the genie flew through the air before bonding with the dragon. Koumori Dragon's scales changed from violet to green as the genie fused with the other monster. ** == ATK 1900/ DEF 1600. **

THAT IS FUTILE, AS YOUR MONSTER'S _Speed_ IS INSUFFICIENT. To prove Sakura's point, the Dash card started to attack at an even faster pace, picking at the bigger monster's defensive power until the creature couldn't take it anymore. Koumori Dragon fell to the ground before bursting into particles of holographic pixels. Kaiba's life points dropped as a result of the monster's destruction. ** Kaiba's LP: 3200. **

Kaiba growled. _My monster was more powerful, but it wasn't fast enough to defend itself. That creature's Speed will destroy me unless I slow it down somehow._ Kaiba drew two cards to replace his La Jinn and Koumori Dragon cards. He smiled at what he drew. _It doesn't matter how fast that thing is; nothing is faster than White Lightning..._

Kaiba slid one of his new cards into the appropriate slot. "Blue Eyes White Dragon!! I summon you!" The massive dragon appeared, and in an instant it launched its White Lightning attack. Dash zoomed across the field, but Kaiba's monster scored a hit. However, it wasn't on the intended target.

"What!?" Kaiba saw his Koumori Dragon floating there, taking the blast! He was easily destroyed, and Dash was saved from destruction. "What happened!?"

Sakura remained cold and emotionless as her Dash monster paced on the field. _Spirit of Dash_ IS A CLOW MONSTER. ANY CARD DEFEATED BY A CLOW CARD IS CAPTURED AND ADDED TO MY HAND. I USED YOUR CARD TO DEFEND MINE.

"Damn..." Kaiba muttered. "I should have expected that. Your game is called Card Captors for a reason."

INDEED. Sakura slashed a card with such force that white sparks flew in all directions. THIS UNIT SLASHES _Spirit of Big _TO INCREASE THE SIZE AND STRENGTH OF _Spirit of Dash._ As promised, the tiny green fox grew into a VERY large fox that made the Blue Eyes White Dragon look like a puppy dog. Only the room's limited space prevented the monster from getting any bigger. The Dash card then sat on Blue Eyes, pinning it under its weight.

_Her monster will simply bite my Blue Eyes until it's destroyed!_ Kaiba looked at his hand, and noticed a Magic card in his hand that would even the odds. _But she's not the only one who can make her monster bigger._

Kaiba's trenchcoat whipped as he slashed another card, even faster than before. "Modify!! Megamorph, activate!! Double the power of my Blue Eyes White Dragon!!"

Mokuba gasped at this, and knew that now was the time to be careful. "The Mini Cyber program triggers a dimensional shift anytime the power output of the Duel Arks exceeds the safety limit. The program'll try to transport them to the other world now. But the Red Shift put into place by Hypnos will attempt to negate and destroy any dimensionally-shifted life forms." Mokuba looked up at the waiting eyes of his assistants. "Make sure Sakura and my brother maintain nominal life signs. And don't lose track of their signals, no matter what.

"Yes sir!" the two engineers answered. As the Blue Eyes started to increase in size, the duelist arena glowed with light from all directions. The white light encompassed the entire field, and refused to die down. Soon, there was a globe of light surrounding the field that Mokuba and the engineers could not see into.

"Status of the duelists!" Mokuba shouted.

"Sensors detect their lifesigns on the twenty-seventh layer of Zero's server!" an engineer shouted back. "They're alive, and their duel is continuing unabated!"

"On screen!" the boy ordered. Soon a massive viewscreen appeared, allowing Mokuba and all the engineers to view the spectacle. Kaiba and Sakura were no longer in the dueling arena from the looks of it. According to the viewscreen, they were dueling in the street of town identified as Readington, at night time.

Kaiba smiled as his Blue Eyes White Dragon reached its new size, making it equal in size to the Big Dash card. However, their strengths were dramatically different. ** ATK 6000 **

"Blue Eyes, obliterate!!" The dragon launched its mightiest attack, the White Lightning. The attack soared through the town, wiping out buildings and trees and uprooting cement streets before slamming into its target. Sakura's monster was incinerated by the power of the Megamorphed Dragon, and the pain she felt made that lethally obvious. ** Sakura's LP: 2800. **

"Had enough yet, small fry?" Kaiba asked, teasing the girl. "Or does your brain circuitry not understand the meaning of Hopelessness?" The gigantic Blue Eyes stared down at the tiny humans, and roared triumphantly. The shattered city shook with its fury.

Sakura's glare remained emotionless and cold. THIS UNIT IS NOT CONCERNED. YOUR DRAGON'S POWER IS TEMPORARY, AND EASILY COUNTERED. Sakura drew two cards to replace her defeated cards, and slashed two other ones. _Spirit of Fight, _AND_ Spirit of Little_! 

One of the cards appeared on the field to protect Sakura - that was the Fight card, styled as a blue-skinned girl dressed in a martial arts outfit and sporting a bad attitude. The other card, the Little card, was targetted at the Blue Eyes White Dragon. The Megamorph effect was obliterated, and the Blue Eyes White Dragon shrunk to the size of a kitten. Even its eyes became cute and cuddly like a cat's. Kaiba was disgusted.

But he wasn't defeated yet. Just as Fight attacked, Kaiba slashed a card. "Destruction Ring!! A Trap Card!!" Kaiba laughed as Sakura's card was surrounding by the lethal, halo-like ring. "The instant this card zones in on your monster, it will be destroyed and deal damage to you based on the attack power of your monster! You're finished!"

Sakura calmly slashed another card. _Spirit of Mirror._ REFLECT THE TRAP! The Fight card phased out of sight, and switched positions with the shrunken Blue Eyes White Dragon. Kaiba could only watch helplessly as his monster was destroyed by his own Trap. ** LP: 100** The pain was excrutiating, but Kaiba held on to consciousness... just barely.

Meanwhile, Mokuba in the command center was monitoring Kaiba's lifesigns. When they plummeted due to the reflected trap, he was shaken. But to his utter amazement, his brother was still alive even after such a horrible shock to his system. Mokuba was sure his brother was a modern day Hercules, and now he had the proof. "What's the status of the duelists' mind data?"

"Sakura's data is operating at optimal levels, and her onboard gyrocomputer is automatically adjusting to the super-reactive environment of the digital world." The engineer looked grimly at Kaiba's data. "But just as we thought, Kaiba's data is having more difficulty holding on. The Red Shift is causing his mind to lose stability rapidly. His life signs are within exceptable limits now, but just barely. He will falter if the battle intensity remains this high."

"Seto...." Mokuba clenched his fists, and pushed the engineer out of the way. "I'll take over! You get the medics ready for my brother's return. I'll keep his mind together until the duel is done!" The engineer nodded and hastily wished him good luck before running to the medics station.

Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragon was captured and sealed by Sakura. He was in trouble, and he knew it. _I have to play a monster, or else I'll be wiped out. But if the monster can't survive the Fight card's attack, I'll be defeated anyway. I have to play a combo that will wipe out that monster and be ready to defend against my Blue Eyes at the same time._

Kaiba drew his replacement cards, and got a decent draw. He had a plan, but it would be difficult to implement against a Level 9 duelist with the mind of a supercomputer. _Let's go._

Kaiba slashed a Magic card known as Dragon Seal, which meant that only Dragon-type monsters could attack or defend themselves. He then summoned his next monster, the Diamond Dragon. "Let's see you counter this monster, robot!"

Sakura did not seem surprised, even though it was an odd play considering what she just captured. Nonetheless, she switched her Fight card for a dragon that could battle. BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON. Sakura's clow card was replaced by a duel monster in a flash of light.

That's when Kaiba acted. He slashed a Trap card as the Blue Eyes charged the Diamond Dragon. "Exclusion Virus!! Destroy all Dragons in both player's decks!!" A wave of purple viral agents swept over the field and washed over both players. The dragons roared in pain as they were infected and wiped out, along with the monsters in both player's decks. Sakura's deck wasn't affected in the slightest, while Kaiba's deck was reduced to a handful of cards.

THIS STRATEGY DOES NOT COMPUTE, Sakura said, showing the programmed curiousity of her Duel Mode's mind. She replayed her Fight card. WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SETO KAIBA?

Kaiba smirked, playing one of the monsters in his hand. "This. Cyber Stein, appear and use your power!!" A frankenstein wannabe appeared, and howled like an animal as its half-dead, half-living body began to metamorphosize.

Then, Sakura understood. CYBER STEIN. MACHINE MONSTER. SPECIAL EFFECT - SACRIFICE THIS MONSTER TO CREATE THE FUSION FORM OF ANY MONSTERS IN YOUR GRAVEYARD.

Kaiba laughed. "Exactly! And with Cyber Stein, I can fuse all my Blue Eyes into the ultimate White Dragon!" The souls of the three white dragons rose into the sky before rushing into the pulsating body of the mechanical Cyber Stein. The machine exploded to reveal the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, ready for battle. "Neutron Blast!!"

_Fight, _ATTACK! The Fight card charged as the Ultimate Dragon unleashed its attack. The Fight card managed to dodge the first assault, which obliterated half of Readington in a flash. The Fight card leapt into the air and landed behind one of the Blue Eyes' heads, and proceeded to pummel the creature's neck with all her might. The other two heads fired their White Lightning attacks at the intruder, who deftly dodged and leapt to the field. The battle proceeded like this, with the Fight card running for her life and trying to find the weakpoint of the Ultimate Dragon. There was none to be seen.

Sakura decided to go for broke. She had to launch a head-on assault. MODIFY!! _Spirit of Power, _COMBINE WITH _Fight_!! The sugar-pink energy of the Power card rushed into the Fight card, granting her unbelievable strength that only added to the Fight card's already supernatural power. Sakura had other cards she could use in combination with Fight, but using more than one card on a monster as powerful as Fight would only exhaust its energy, and leave it vulnerable. Every ounce of energy counted in this battle. END THE BATTLE WITH THIS ATTACK.

Kaiba smirked. "Ultimate Dragon, you do the same. One way or another, this battle ends NOW!!" The Ultimate Dragon reared back, its three mouths glowing with the power of the Neutron Blast. The Fight card charged ahead, not afraid to die for her master. The monsters unleashed their full power on each other, and the explosive power of the Neutron Blast swept over the battlefield, obscuring both player's sight.

It was over.

--

Yugi awoke with a start. His other self was in control of the body, surprisingly. It was night time, so Yami had no reason to be "out". Why was he awake? And why was he so... frightened?

_Yami?_ Yugi asked gingerly. _Are you okay?_

Yami breathed heavily before gulping down a lump in his throat. _I... I had a frightening dream. _Yami fell back into the bed, wiping the sweat off his regal brow. _I did not mean to alarm you._

_You had a nightmare?_ Yugi's spirit materialized beside his other self. The boy put a reassuring hand on his other self's forehead. _That's never happened before._

Yami regained control of his breath, and slowly sat up again. "I dreamed... that I was a monster. Like a Duel Monster... only different. I was an orange lizard, like a small dinosaur."

Yugi blinked in surprise. _That sounds like an Agumon. He's on a TV show I watch sometimes._ The boy didn't think Yami knew about Digimon, so it was impossible for him to dream about one. Wasn't it? _What happened?_

"...Kaiba, and a girl, were dueling in a city street. I was inside one of the homes, with a family of smaller monsters. I sensed that I was a loved one to them... like a father." Yami seemed troubled by the memory of the nightmare, but he continued. "Kaiba's Ultimate Dragon attacked another monster... a Mystical Elf, I think. The explosion rocked the city, and in the last moments of the dream, I remember holding another monster and proclaiming my love to it." Yami's head sagged, as tears threatened to fall. "I felt the pain of death and loss in that dream. It felt so real..."

Yugi hugged his other self, like a doting mother would hug her child. _You're okay now. Just relax and try to go back to sleep. It's over now._

Yami found his other self's hug to be comforting, in a way. Nonetheless, he couldn't rest. His mind was filled with the images he'd just seen. He lay back and pondered the dream. _That dream... does it have something to do with that advertisement that Tea showed me? That picture of... Juri?_ Yami closed his eyes, and felt his consciousness sinking into the inky blackness that was the Millennium Puzzle. _I don't know yet... but I know my answers lie far away, at the new tournament. Yugi and I have a new challenge to face._

Yami fell into a deep slumber, with Yugi watching over him well into the night.

--

[ENDING CREDITS]

[IMAGE] Jeri is cradling Takato in a forest glen, with the sun peeking through the trees. Eventually fades into a picture of Rika, head in the lap of Ash Ketchum. Is any of this real? Or not?

__

Do you still remember, how we used to be,   
Feeling together, believe in whatever, My love has said to me,   
Both of us were dreamers, Young love in the sun,   
Felt like my savior, my spirit I gave you, We'd only just begun. 

[IMAGE] Sakura and Yugi, standing on the beach and looking out into the sunset, like an ephemeral fantasy on the verge of fading into time. The final image is of two cards, lying side by side in the sand. One is a picture of Yami. The other is a picture of Yugi.

__

But we're all alone now, was it just a dream,   
Feelings unfold, they will never be sold, And the secret's safe with me. 

Hasta Manana, Always be mine. 

Viva Forever, I'll be waiting, Everlasting, like the sun,   
Live Forever, for the moment, Ever searching for the one... 

__


	2. Yami! Memories of Love

-- Nonaka Residence || 6:57 PM --

Miss Nonaka walked in a little before seven in the evening. It was a long day at the photo shoot since they were behind schedule on the new summer line-up, but Rumiko and her cameraman managed to finish all the modeling sequences before calling it a day. She was absolutely pooped and was looking forward to spending a nice quiet evening at home.

"Hello?" she called out as she closed the door. "Anybody home?"

"Rumiko?" her mother called back from the living room. Rumiko walked in to see her watching a documentary on Hiroshima and the nuclear bomb.

"Can't you rent _normal_ movies when it's Friday night?" Rumiko teased as she fell onto the couch next to her. The two women gave each other a friendly kiss.

"How was your day dear?" Rumiko's mother asked.

"Oh, it was so long... but now it's over. I hope Rika isn't too mad at me for coming home late."

Grandma Nonaka frowned, worry etched on her face. "I'm afraid she's not home. She came home after school, changed into her play clothes, and left without saying a word."

Rumiko became worried as well. "...I guess she had another fight with young Akiyama."

The old woman shrugged. "That's one possibility. She may just want to be alone for a while. The past few months have been hard on her."

Rumiko leaned back and rubbed her temples. "Yes... digital monsters were hard enough to deal with, but her first boyfriend is proving even more of a challenge. And add that to all the publicity work she and her friends are doing for that card game of theirs. I'd be amazed if she wasn't a little stressed out."

"She'll handle things in her own way, I'm sure." Rumiko's mother returned her attention to the video. "Right now, I imagine she's at the game center, letting off some steam."

Rumiko sunk into the couch, already on the verge of sleep. "Heaven help whoever she's playing with."

--

Takato gulped. "Are you sure this is a good idea Jeri? I mean... I'm pretty good, but Rika is a tournament champion. She'll crush me!"

"But she asked you to play," Jeri said. "Win or lose, you should just have fun. And besides, you've gotten a lot better since you became a real Tamer. You might actually win!"

Takato considered that. Could a lowly card-flopper like him actually beat a tournament pro? Stranger things had happened. If he actually won, he could tell everybody that he actually beat the legendary Rika Nonaka. Kazu and Kenta would be so jealous! "Well... maybe I _can_ win."

"That's the spirit!" Jeri pecked Takato on the cheek. "Good luck!" With renewed vigor, Takato marched onto the battlefield in the blue square used by the second player. Rika was already standing in the red square opposite him, her card reader already plugged into the game console beside her.

"Get ready to meet your match, Rika!" Takato said defiantly.

"Shut up, Takato," she replied coldly. Takato cringed. Rika must've been in a worse mood than usual. "Hurry up and plug in your card reader." Takato did so. The game console lit up, and his card reader activated automatically. Both player's game scores were set to 0, and the default victory score was set to 1000. The console waited for either player to request a Special Rule, or simply press the Start button to say they were ready. Rika promptly hit Start, and Takato followed her lead. Both tamers drew five cards and looked at their hand. The battle had begun.

** Rika's Score: 0 || Takato's Score: 0 **

Rika was the red player, so she had to choose her Digimon first, as per the rules of the Digimon card game. She slid a card from her hand through her card reader, and a holographic projection of a Floramon card appeared in front of her. Takato was still amazed by how advanced these new game centers were, thanks to the astounding technology used by the company that sponsored it – Kibble Corp, or something like that. It made playing the card game a whole lot more realistic, and it reminded him of the days when he fought real digimon. It reminded him of Guilmon, and made him feel as alive as he did when he was saving the world with his own two hands.

"What are you waiting for, play something!" Rika snapped. Takato jumped and chose a card to use. His monster was an Agumon, which appeared on the field as well. Takato couldn't attack yet, since Rika was the first one who would be allowed to do that, so his turn was done. These were just the opening moves. Now, the real game began. Takato got into a comfortable stance, so that he could slash his cards through the card reader as quickly and effectively as possible.

"A Fire-type against my Plant-type," Rika noted as she drew a new card to start her turn. "You think you can get an early advantage by playing a monster that is strong against Plants, Takato?"

"Um... yeah," Takato replied. Was Rika being serious, or teasing him? She knew all about strategy based on Types, so Takato figured she was just teasing him. Type-based strategy was commonly associated with newbies to the game, so pros were probably amused by it.

Rika slashed a card, and Takato had no idea what it was. When they slashed their cards in real life, Takato and his friends had to say the card's name out loud, so that their partner knew what to do even if the card's effects weren't obvious. Takato remembered how long it took him to train Guilmon in card use, and in the end it was too difficult for him to understand more than a few of the cards. It drove him nuts, but Takato loved every minute of the training.

"Takato, watch out!" Jeri shouted. Takato shook himself awake just as Rika's monster launched one of its three attacks. In Digimon, each digimon had three attacks that worked like a paper-rock-scissors game. The strongest attack was A, the average attack was B, and the defensive move was C. By the looks of it, Rika used the creature's A-Attack, which would decimate most monsters quickly. Since Takato hadn't chosen his monster's action, it defaulted to the basic attack, or "B-Attack". The game automatically compared the values of each attack, and found that Takato's monster had the weaker value. As a result, Takato's monster was wiped out, and Rika's score went up by an amount based on the point value of the Agumon card, and the strength of Floramon's attack. Takato had seriously messed up. [Rika's Score: 135]

"Takato, what the heck are you doing!" Rika shouted. "Stop daydreaming and play seriously! Any three-year-old could have told you that you should have won that round!"

Takato frowned. "Well, I'm sorry. Geez." He drew a card for his turn and slashed a new monster. His Candlemon appeared and floated around in a casual manner. Takato chose another card and slashed it. "Digivolution, activate!" It wasn't necessary for Takato to shout the card's name like that, but it helped him get into the spirit of the game. Candlemon glowed and grew as it digivolved into the powerful Meramon! 

"Meramon, wipe her out!" Takato punched one of the three attack buttons on his console, and there was a pause as Rika did the same. Both monsters charged, and the result of the attack were revealed by symbols above each monster's head.

[Meramon: A-Attack || Floramon: C-Attack]

"Whoops!" Takato was in trouble again! And this time, it would cost him since Meramon was about to be annihilated! Reflected attacks were always the most costly in Digimon games. Meramon launched its all-powerful fire attack, but Floramon batted it aside with a red leaf that could reflect energy when hit. The fire attack slammed into Meramon, and he burst into pixels of red and orange light. [Rika's Score: 685]

Rika frowned. "...This is pathetic. I didn't even have to slash a card, and my Rookie beat your Champion. Are you sure you know how to play, goggle-head?"

There was that nickname again. Takato hated it when she called him that. It always made him feel like she was looking down on him. "Of course I know how to play! And I'm going to prove it!" He slashed a card, and a Biyomon appeared soon after. "Draw your card and battle!"

Rika smirked. "That's the spirit. It's more fun for me if you fight back." Rika drew and forcefully slashed her card. "Crest of Sincerity! Digivolve Floramon into its Ultimate form!" Takato gasped in awe as the tiny plant-girl-thing grew into a bigger and stronger plant-girl-thing with pink frilly leaves. Lillymon flew around Rika's side of the field and struck a pose as her digivolution was completed. Rika chose an attack button, and Lillymon charged to the center of the battlefield. Takato quickly chose an attack as well, and slashed a card as his Biyomon charged.

"Digi-Modify!! Evolution Snatch, activate!!" The option card manifested as a giant claw like those used in the prize-grabbing games. The claw reached into Lillymon and pulled out something that looked vaguely like a digicore, and brought it over to Takato's monster. Lillymon dedigivolved into Floramon in a flash, and Biyomon digivolved with equal speed into Garudamon! The monster's clashed, both using their strongest attacks, and the Floramon was wiped out in a flash of flame. The resulting score was high for one round of battle, thanks to Floramon being weak against Fire. [Takato's Score: 570]

"All right Takato!" Jeri shouted, clapping enthusiastically. "Way to go!" Takato smiled shyly in response as Jeri's praise stirred up the growing crowd. It seemed that word was getting around that a pro was battling a rookie, and people wanted to see it for themselves.

Rika was not amused. "Nice trick, goggle-head. But you won't be able to pull that off again! Because now I'm getting serious!" Rika chose her next monster, which turned out to be a Renamon! The hologram appeared on the field, looking exactly like the old Renamon did in real life.

_Whoa... so she's been using her promotional card. _Takato and the gang helped promote the Digimon card game after the events with the D-Reaper, which made them the only kids in their class that were employed. They got a salary and everything, but of course their parents were in control of the money. One of the additional benefits of their employment was that each kid was given a Promo card of their partner from when they were Tamers, specially made by Industrial Illusion's best artists. The picture was made with unerring exactness, thanks to images of the D-Reaper battles and the suggestions made by the kids themselves.

"It's your turn, Takato," Rika said icily. The holographic Renamon waited for the next round of battle to begin. Takato drew, and got his own Promo card of Guilmon. It was the only card of its kind in any form. Even though Renamon was a very rare digimon, Takato was the one who made up Guilmon. His promo card was the only copy of him ever made. Takato decided to find out how strong his card really was.

"Garudamon, switch with Guilmon!" Takato's current monster went to the sidelines and kneeled to signify that it was out of play. In the meantime, Guilmon's hologram appeared on the field, roaring in an uncharacteristic manner. It seemed that the programmers didn't like Takato's description of Guilmon's actual personality. This Guilmon was more like the feral side of him that came out when there was a fight.

"You should have kept your Ultimate instead of playing a Rookie," Rika said matter-of-factly. "But this could still be fun. It'll give us a chance to finish that fight we had when we first met as Tamers."

Takato remembered that. Renamon was dominating the fight, since Guilmon had no idea what to do in a battle. He was just a baby at the time, at least mentally. Renamon would have blown Guilmon's head off with the Heavy Metal gun-option, had Guilmon not ran off when Takato called to him.

But now, Takato didn't have to worry about Guilmon's safety. The monsters weren't real, so he could go all-out, and at least give the audience some entertainment. "Guilmon, get her!" Takato slammed the B-Attack button, and his digimon charged towards the center field. Renamon did the same as Rika chose her attack. It turned out that it was a basic attack as well. If they squared off in hand-to-hand, Guilmon would lose! Takato had to do something. Luckily, he was prepared.

"Digi-Modify! Speed, activate!" Guilmon suddenly rushed across the field, dodging around Renamon's initial attack and charging from behind for a second round. Takato changed to an A-Attack, prompting the holographic Guilmon's Pyro Sphere attack.

Rika didn't seem surprised. She slashed a card with unerring efficiency. "Alias, activate!!" The Pyro Sphere attack hit full-on and appeared to wipe out Renamon. Only when Takato noticed the Score hadn't changed did he realize that Renamon was still alive, somehow. He looked around, but he couldn't see the hologram anywhere!

"Where is it!?" he shouted to nobody in particular. Finally, he remembered a scene from his Tamer days, recalling Renamon's and Rika's fighting style. She would come down at him from behind with a Diamond Storm! "Guilmon, defend!!" Despite his command, the hologram didn't move. Takato couldn't command a hologram like he could a real digimon – it wouldn't move unless a card was slashed that told it to move.

"It's too late!" Rika said, almost happily. She slashed a Power Chip option card, doubling the strength of Renamon's special attack, and let loose with her digimon. Renamon appeared exactly where Takato expected her too, and she unleashed her Diamond Storm attack on the defenseless Guilmon. In a flash of light, he was destroyed. [Rika's Score: 1000]

"Heh heh, guess that means I won," Rika snickered. "Nice try Takato, but no goggle-head is ever going to beat me." Rika waited for an answer, but got none. When she looked more closely, she saw that Takato was crying. 

Jeri approached him slowly and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Takato. You played well."

"...It's not that," Takato replied. "It's just... it didn't listen to me. Because it's just a hologram. It was like... seeing a ghost." Takato's head sagged, and his legs threatened to fall out from under him. "I miss Guilmon."

"Takato..." Jeri wrapped an arm around the boy and walked him off the stage. They left together as the audience dispersed. Some tried to get Rika's autograph, but she wasn't paying attention. She watched Takato and Jeri, feeling the pangs of guilt in her heart. When they were out of sight, she turned and left as well. Only after that did the room empty, and the game center close down for the night.

--

Henry punched away at the keyboard as he guided his Terriermon through the online arena built in the semblance of a post-apocalyptic city. To his left was a Tentomon, controlled by the online player named Tento4Ever. To his right were Henry's partners-in-crime when it came to online games. One was a Kumamon controlled by Major_Ursa, and the other was a Pegasusmon owned by KariLuver. The four of them were one of four teams participating in this 16-player Digimon Online brawl, which had been going on for the last three hours with only a few casualties. That was because the world map was so big and detailed, and stealth was of great importance since the enemy team had already managed to digivolve their monsters with power-ups in the arena. Their Rookies were mincemeat unless they found a few power-ups of their own.

Henry's headset rang like a cellphone, and he pressed a key on his keyboard to accept the call. "Operator."

_"Henry, it's me,"_ Rika said on the other end. _"Can you unplug your game for a sec? I need to talk to you."_

"Um...sure thing." Henry typed an emote command that made his Terriermon do the "Go Ahead" motion, and he moved his character into a patch of brush to hide. He then activated a Data Collection card he set for just such an occasion, and leaned back in his chair to relax. "So what's up?"

_"...It's Ryo."_

Henry frowned. "So it's another fight, is it?"

_"...No. I broke up with him."_

"WHAT!?" Henry fell out of his chair. Good thing his headset's cord was extra long, or else he might have broke the computer. "But why? I thought you two got along well. Arguments aside."

Rika shifted positions, which could be heard over the phone. _"I caught him doing something with Alice."_

That didn't bode well. "Now by 'doing something', you mean kissing, right?"

There was a pause. _"...His hand was doing something under her dress."_

Henry's eyes widened. That was serious stuff, even for kids Ryo's age. He was two years older than the rest of the gang, who were only twelve, so situations like that were nonexistent among their group. Or so Henry thought. "With _Alice_? Why the heck would he do that?"

Another pause. Henry thought he heard Rika chewing. "You know, you shouldn't eat when you're depressed."

_"I'll do whatever the hell I want, thanks." _Yet another pause. _"...Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."_

"S'okay." Henry checked his game's chat window for any new developments, and found none. "Where did all this happen, if I might ask?"

_"...In the park. I was looking for Ryo after our fight that morning. He tried to touch me when we were hanging out at his place, and I stopped him. He thought I was being childish about it."_

"So when you went to look for him, you found him with Alice in the park. And I can assume there was much pummeling of the wayward Tamer."

_"...I ran. All I could think about was getting away. I went home and... I actually cried. I cried because of that..."_ Rika seemed on the verge of tears still, so she broke off that sentence before her emotions overflowed. _"Can you believe it? Me, crying?"_

"Hey, it happens to all of us." Henry stood up and glanced out the window into the night. He only stayed up this late when he didn't have school tomorrow... or when he was out fighting with Terriermon. He rarely saw the nighttime like this anymore. "Did Ryo try to talk to you after that? Or did you avoid him?"

_"He left a message on my cell,_" Rika said between bites of whatever she was eating. _"He said that he knew what he did was wrong, and he was about to stop himself because he felt bad about it."_ Rika practically spat at the statement. _"Like I'm supposed to fall into his arms just because he was 'about to stop'." _Rika seemed amused by the thought, but her laugh was barely audible and lasted for only a moment. She wasn't in a laughing mood. _"Are all guys like that?"_

"I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't believe in making excuses." Henry stretched his back and arms before returning to his computer chair. "But guys are as unique as girls are. Think of all the girls you know and how they act, and there's definitely going to be the same number of guys out there who are the same way."

"...I thought I understood Ryo. But now, I'm not so sure."

"I've never really trusted Ryo, but he's still a nice guy. I'm surprised that he would do something like that to you. Whenever he talked about you, he was so proud. I think he really does like you."

_"Then why did he do that to me!" _she snapped. _"Just because I don't want to be touched like that, he goes and finds another girl who does! And you think he likes me!?"_

"Rika, calm down," Henry said evenly. He waited, and the voice on the other end focused on breathing. After a while, Rika let out a sigh as she forcibly relaxed. "Now I'm no expert on boys and girls, but I do know that Ryo is a teenager and is something of a cowboy when it comes to life. It may sound mean, but... he may not be the kind of guy who can stay in one place with one person for long. He might not be able to commit."

Rika considered that. _"...I got that impression too. I just thought it was my imagination, but... I've always wondered about it in the back of my mind. I didn't think it would bother me, since he's just a boy. It's not like I expected us to be together forever."_

"Relationships are a lot harder in real life; there are no fairy tale romances." Henry crossed his arms. "In the end, it's up to you what you think. We can guess all we want about Ryo, but the only way you'll know for sure is by talking to him. And you have to decide what to do after that."

_"...I don't want to face him right now,"_ Rika admitted. _"I need a little time to calm down. Get my feelings straight."_

"If that's your plan, then go for it. I'll help you out any way I can. I'm sure Takato and the others would too."

Rika sighed again, but it was more of a relaxing sigh. Her attitude seemed to have improved. _"Thanks Henry. I feel better now."_

"You are welcome, young padawan." Rika replied with confusion, making Henry smile. "Is it okay if I resume my mission now?"

_"Knock yourself out. Just remember that we're all meeting at the train station tomorrow at six and heading out to Domino. Don't oversleep, or your butt is mine."_

"Is that a promise?" Henry teased. Rika laughed and hung up. Henry returned to his game, and was promptly destroyed by a WarGreymon waiting for him to unpause his character. Henry cursed the camper's bloodline, and fell into fits of sobbing.

--

The Tamers just barely made it onto their train. Their morning was primarily filled with hectic running as they raced through the station, looking for the right train before it took off. They ended up running over an old woman with a cart of yaki soba [noodles], losing control of Takato's luggage of clean clothes and underwear, and getting lectured by one of the station's policemen. But in the end, the four managed to get onto the right train just before it left.

Jeri tried to catch her breath. "This wouldn't have happened if you had woken up on time, Takato."

"How was I supposed to know that the batteries in my alarm clock died?" Takato said, a little piqued. "And how come you're not blaming Rika! She and Henry were late too!"

"My dad's car broke down halfway there," Henry said in their defense. "And my dad couldn't fix a car if his life depended on it. We ended up taking the taxi."

"A likely story!" Takato said. "Rika was probably at Ryo's house and you had to go get her!"

Rika used the proverbial Angry Girl's Punch® on Takato, smashing him into the train floor. "Do NOT mention that name!" Henry and Jeri broke up the two, as they were disturbing the people around them.

"We have to find a seat before the train fills up with the next load," Jeri said. Japanese trains were always crowded, to the point where you couldn't move an inch without bumping into someone. The tamers quickly put their luggage on the racks above and picked a place to sit. There they waited as the train filled up with passengers, and finally departed for the distant city of Domino.

"Hey Jeri, you've been to Domino before," Henry noted. "What's it like?"

"I lived there when my mother was still alive, so it's been a while since I've been there." Jeri remembered the past, when her family lived there almost eight years ago. "It was a small town about as big as Shinjuku is now. It was popular for its games thanks to the company stationed there. I think Domino was built by the company, and the population grew from the company workers that lived around the corporation. Now, it's sort of a tourist town and filled with harbors that export and import goods all over Japan."

"That's why we're going there," Rika cut in. "The luxury cruiser that's taking us to Monster Island is launching from Domino Harbor."

"Luxury cruiser!" Takato daydreamed about what it'll be like to eat the gourmet food and stay inside those lavishly decorated rooms. "Wow... it'll be just like Titanic!"

Henry looked troubled. "I'd feel a lot better if you didn't say that until after the boat reaches the island."

"Sorry... it's just, this is my first time riding a boat." Takato smiled in anticipation. "This'll be awesome! I'm going to see if I can run around the entire ship at least once." Jeri giggled, while the other two sighed like a couple of tired parents.

The train rolled along for an hour before it reached its first stop at Tokyo Edge, a little town that served as the rest stop for patrons entering or leaving Tokyo by train. A good portion of the train riders exited the train, and an equal number of travelers boarded as well. The train started up again, and continued the long journey to Domino. Takato was agitated the whole time, anxious to board the ship and see all the new faces. He was going to exhaust himself before the tournament even started! Jeri played the role of mother and kept Takato calm until finally he fell asleep in her arms. Soon, Jeri did the same, exhausted after trying to keep Takato in check.

"Are we actually going to play in the tournament, or are we just promoting?" Henry asked. 

Rika turned away from her sightseeing at the window. "I think we're playing. The message I got from the tournament liaison, Mr. Muto, said that we were going to participate in order to promote the tournament as it is shown on television. So I guess that means the camera will be on us while we're playing."

"Great," Henry said. "That's sure to make me nervous, but at least Suzy will be excited. She wanted to come along. I tried to tell her that the monsters would be too scary for her, but she didn't believe me." He sighed as he leaned his head back. He wanted to prop his feet up, but Jeri and Takato were sitting across from him in the prime leg-propping area. "Besides, watching Takato will be tough enough."

The redhead nodded in agreement. "It's not just the monsters that are going to be scary. I understand that some players from all the Industrial Illusions games will be there."

"So? What's scary about that?"

Rika held up a newspaper clipping, titled "Man Dies at Duelist Kingdom". Under the title was the story itself, as well as a picture of a disturbing man with wild black hair and a physique only Frankenstein's monster could match. The man's name was printed in there, but he was referred to mostly by his nickname, Panik. Henry took the clipping and read it thoroughly.

"This guy was killed at Duelist Kingdom, but nobody knows how," Rika said. "They said he was found in the forest somewhere, with a look on his face that could only be described as Fear. The doctors said that his body had no physical damage, and his mind was in good health. They think he died of fright."

"Died of fright?" Henry murmured. "You mean... somebody scared a full-grown adult to death? How?"

Rika trembled a bit, as if she were remembering something. "Ryo told me about it a while ago. He said that one of his friends was at Duelist Kingdom and knew the whole story. He said that one man, named Yugi Muto, faced Panik in a card game. When Panik lost, this Yugi guy did something to him that left him like that."

Henry gulped. "Wow... that's pretty serious. One guy scared him to death."

"I think he's going to be at this tournament," Rika said. "He's the tournament champion for his game, just like I am for Digimon. Whatever he did to that guy at Duelist Kingdom... he might do it again to someone else. And there's no telling what the other players might be like. They may look at kids like us as fishbait."

"I see your point." Henry glanced at the news clipping again, then handed it to Rika. "We'll all just have to look out for each other. And we'll try to avoid Yugi Muto, for safety's sake."

Rika nodded. "Right. I just wanted to make sure you knew that too. Since you'll be watching Takato and Jeri."

"What!? Why do I have to watch them!?"

"Because _I _plan on winning this tournament!" Rika said indignantly. "And I can't do that if I'm sitting around watching the goggle-head and his girlfriend all day."

Henry glared back. "What makes you think I would want to watch them? I plan on playing too!"

"Well one of us has to!" Rika snapped back. "I'm not leaving Jeri's fate in _his_ hands!" She indicated Takato, who snored ignomiously with a snot-bubble in his nose.

Henry frowned in thought. "Man... well, why don't we just take turns?"

Rika smiled knowingly. "Because I'll just leave them behind anyway. And you'll end up taking care of them out of concern."

Henry growled – partly because she was right, but mostly because that was such a mean thing to say. "Did you do this kind of stuff to Ryo!? I bet he got tired of that stuff real quick!"

Rika gasped. Her anger seemed to dissolve as tears formed at the corner of her eyes. Henry must've struck a vein by accident. A concern like that could prompt immediate reactions if they were mentioned. Henry's anger disappeared as guilt took over. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings.

"Rika, I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"Yes you did," she said as she turned back to the window. "Just admit it. You think Ryo ditched me because I'm not like Jeri or Alice. I'm not sweet and innocent, and I'm not interested in that other stuff."

Henry fell back into his seat. He never won fights against a girl, friend or family, so he figured this was a losing battle. He wanted to console her, but what could he say that wouldn't make it worse? He didn't have any creative lines... so he'd just have to stick with the truth.

"I didn't mean to say that. I was just angry." Okay, that was a start, but it didn't seem to make Rika feel any better. "You say things sometimes that sound mean, but that's who you are. Guys like you because you're straight-forward."

Rika didn't reply. Henry held his breath, afraid that he'd already lost the fight. Finally, she said something. "I _am_ mean, aren't I."

Henry smiled. "No, just very blunt. You're actually nice when you want to be. Like when you're with Jeri. I've seen how you protect her and help her out, like she was your little sister."

"...Renamon said I acted like Jeri's older sister once." Rika remembered her friend, now gone thanks to the sacrifice her and the other digimon made to save the world from the D-Reaper. "With nothing but boys around, I felt I had to take care of her. I don't trust anyone else to do it."

"Takato seems to do a pretty good job of it," Henry noted. "He did everything a boy could do, and more, when we were trying to save her from D-Reaper. He's more capable than you realize."

Rika looked at Takato, still sleeping with Jeri in his arms. Jeri looked so comfortable, like a child holding its favorite blanket. "She seems to trust him. Maybe they'll be fine on their own."

"I think so," Henry said. "You don't have to worry about them. You can just worry about winning the tournament."

Rika smiled at the blue-haired boy. "...Thanks Henry. Once again, you helped me see things clearly."

Henry winked and gave a thumbs-up like some goofy anime hero. "All in a day's work." Rika laughed at the display, confirming Henry's victory over her sudden mood shift. "Just promise me one thing before I ride off into the sunset."

"Anything," she said.

Henry became serious again. "Promise me that you'll think about things carefully before you decide what to do about Ryo and Alice. It's just my opinion, but I think you were a good couple. And I think you still can be, assuming things work out for the best."

Even in her calm state of mind, Rika didn't think she could forgive Ryo after what she saw. His actions spoke for himself; he didn't like Rika as much as she liked him. She was replaceable in his mind. Rika liked Ryo, but she didn't want to be with a guy who thought she was replaceable. 

But she owed it to Henry to try. "...All right."

Henry smiled. "Good. Now, I think I'm going to follow Takato's lead." The boy leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and focused his thoughts on sleep. It came quickly. Rika let him be, and returned her attention to the countryside.

--

[Domino City]

Yugi sat on his bed and read his copy of _Duelist Weekly_. More specifically, he was reading an article that talked about the gaming philanthropist named Zero Muto. Yugi had never met the guy, or even seen him, but apparently they worked for the same company, Industrial Illusions. Zero was a mystery to the world, since he refused to have his picture taken. And any time he had an interview with a reporter, he wore a mask that supposedly was designed in the style of an Egyptian pharoah's mask. It was creepy.

_Grandpa says that there's no one in our family named Zero_, Yugi remembered. _Muto is a common family name in Japan, so I guess I shouldn't be worried._ Yugi looked at the article again, which described Zero's plans with the Monster Duel EX tournament that Yami was planning on attending. _But the fact that he works for Industrial Illusions and wears that mask makes me wonder. Is he an Egyptian like Shadi, or is he just some weirdo with a love for Egyptian culture?_

"Yu~gi!" Grandpa called from the bottom of the stairs. "A package from Industrial Illusions has arrived!"

A package? Is it the custom Duel Ark they sent me? Yugi rushed out of his room, tossing his magazine into his basket of laundry. He raced down the stairs, and found Joey parusing a package of his own. He pulled out a glove that was equipped with a strange looking gadget, and reminded Yugi of some futuristic sci-fi weapon.

Yugi glanced at the Duel Ark somewhat skeptically. Joey did the same thing nearby, and he was the first to speak his thoughts. "We're supposed to duel with d'ese things?"

"Yes, of course," Grandpa Solomon said. "These are the battle devices that'll be used in the Monster Duel EX competition. They are the latest in Kaiba Corp technology. A real piece of work, if you ask me."

Yugi opened his own package and removed the Duel Ark from the bubble-wrap. Yugi's gauntlet was custom-made by Industrial Illusions, since he was their representative in this tournament. His Ark had an emblem of the Millennium Eye on it, and was painted gold as opposed to the black and red design used with the other gloves. Yugi slid the glove over his left hand, and the device activated automatically. 

"Whoa... it's powered by my body, like those watches they used to sell at the store down the street." Yugi slid his deck into the appropriate slot, and a data readout appeared in front of him thanks to the holographic projectors. It gave his name, age, database picture, the Deck Level of his deck, and his victory rating for General dueling and Duelist Kingdom. It had everything that Kaiba Corp's database could offer!

"Deck Level 1206, eh?" Joey said, noting Yugi's information. "Let me try dat." Joey slid his gauntlet on, and the same thing occurred. His General dueling was pretty horrible, but his Duelist Kingdom rating was almost as high as Yugi's. And his Deck Level wasn't too shabby either. "1020!? Awww...." Joey fell over.

"That's nothing to sneeze at, Joey," Yugi said in comfort. "You should be proud!"

"Can I try that, Yugi?" Tea asked. The boy removed his deck and handed it to her, and Tea slid it over her hand. She inserted her deck, and the readout gave a 933 for her Deck Level. She flashed a "V for Victory" sign. "Yes! Fairy power, baby!"

"Eh, fairies-schmaries," Joey chided. "No self-respecting duelist would use a Fairy card in their deck. Those things are the weakest monsters in the game!"

"They've beaten _you_ enough times!" Tea teased. "Or don't you remember all those times I've schooled you in the art of Duel Monsters?"

"That was before Duelist Kingdom! Now, you'd be lucky if you could last one turn against me!" 

"Is that a challenge, Joey Wheeler?" Tea said, an evil glint in her eyes.

"Uh, guys..." Yugi cut in. "I don't think we should play around with these Arks. They're quite expensive, you know..."

"You bet its a challenge, Tea Gardner!" Joey shot back, knocking Yugi over in the process. "I challenge you to a battle with the Duel Arks, right now! Winner gets an All-You-Can-Eat day at Burger World, and the loser pays for it!"

Tea smirked. "It's a deal! Be ready to pay up, Joey." She stepped outside, picking up Yugi along the way. "You'll cheer for me, won't you Yugi?"

Yugi's face turned red and stars formed around him. "Of course, Tea. I'll cheer for you."

"Traitor!" Joey barked. "Where's Tristan when you need him? He'd back me up."

Solomon followed the gang outside, and took his place on the sidewalk with Yugi as the two players stood opposite each other in the street. Joey shuffled his deck out of courtesy and slid it back into his Duel Ark. "Are you ready to get creamed?"

Tea finished shuffling as well. "I'm ready to play, for sure. Let's go!" Tea and Joey drew their cards, and duel began.

** Joey's LP: 4000 || Tea's LP: 4000 **

The holographic Help function appeared to guide them through their first battle with the Duel Arks. It manifested as a Key Mace, a cute fairy monster that flew around like a butterfly and wielded a key for a weapon. It perched on Yugi's head.

_"Both players, please set a Monster in the Active Monster Slot,"_ the Key Mace said. _"You are permitted to have one Active Monster on the field at a time, plus any other monsters created by card effects."_

Tea understood the instructions easily enough, while Joey had a bit more trouble. "Uh... what?"

"She said 'Play a Monster', Joey." Tea placed one of the cards in her hand into the slot described by the Key Mace. "And mine's going to be Gyakutenno Megami!" The powerful fairy creature appeared beside Tea, being roughly seven feet tall and dressed as a druidic priestess.

Joey stood there, analyzing his hand with incredible exactness. "Let's see here... that one has good attack power, but this one has a nice effect. And that one just looks too frickin' cool..."

_"Monsters may attack at anytime,"_ the Key Mace continued.

"Is that so?" Tea said. "In that case, attack him now Megami!!" Tea's fairy monster lifted her hands like a priest in prayer. A swarm of leaves and twigs rained from the sky and headed straight for the unsuspecting Joey.

"Eh, maybe I should play this one..." Joey looked up just in time to see the swarm approach. "GAAHH!!" Unable to react quickly enough, Joey was hit by the massive mystical attack and he lost a big chunk of his life points. [Joey's LP: 2200]

"Yay, way to go Tea!" Yugi cheered on cue.

"Hurry up and play a card, Joey!" Solomon shouted. "There are no Turns in this game! You have to move quickly and stay on your toes!"

Joey blinked. "Oh. So it's like a street brawl? Alright then." Joey put the Flame Swordsman on the field and pointed at Tea. "Attack her, Flame Swordsman!"

Tea smiled confidently as the Swordsman approached. "I think you're forgetting that I have a monster on the field, Joey. And her defense is-OWWW!!" Tea fell back as the swordsman slashed into her for considerable damage. Gyakutenno Megami stood at her post. Her expression was surprisingly life-like; she looked confused at Tea's actions. [Tea's LP: 2200]

Tea sat on the ground, aching from head to toe and a little peeved. "Megami!! Protect me!"

The fairy nodded in agreement, and moved between the Swordsman and the downed Tea. The swordsman continued his attack, but the sword was frozen in mid-air as Megami's defensive magic took hold. Megami counterattacked with a magical force maneuver that sent the Flame Swordsman flying through the air and into a wall of the Turtle Gameshop. The damage must've not been high enough to destroy the monster, since the Swordsman stood up and resumed its attack.

The Key Mace watched, and again gave a Tip. _"If you wish to aid your Monster in battle, try slashing a card through the Duel Ark. You can try powering up your Monster with any compatible cards, or you can try channeling the powers of a Monster in your hand into your current fighter."_

Joey nodded. "Worth a try." He chose a card from his hand and slid it through the card reader, slowly and methodically. It was the Salamandra card, normally a very powerful card that worked well with the Flame Swordsman. "Try this on for size!!"

The Flame Swordsman moaned as he tried to surround his sword with a flaming dragon spirit. Instead, a candle-sized flame appeared at the end of the swordsman's weapon. Yugi and Solomon collapsed on the side of the street.

"What happened!?" Joey growled. "My Flame Swordsman didn't get any stronger! This thing is broken!"

The Key Mace smiled – a very cute thing for a Fairy. _"You slashed it too slow, silly! When slashing a card, its power is directly proportional to how quickly you slash the card. Don't worry, your card won't be hurt. Try it again!"_ The Key Mace floated onto the field and tapped the Flame Swordsman's weapon, negating the Salamandra effect and returning its power to Joey's card. She then returned to her perch on Yugi's head.

Joey looked at the Salamandra card, and the Duel Ark. "Okay... here we GO!!" He reared back with his left hand, and brought the card down at his Duel Ark full speed. And missed. The card flew out of his hand and landed in the parking lot of Duke Devlin's gameshop across the street. Joey ran over to grab it quickly. "Hey, my card!!"

Tea sweatdropped. "...Right. So if I slash a card fast enough, it'll be strong. Maybe I can wipe out the swordsman with this card, before Joey gets back." Tea took a card, the Silver Bow and Arrow, and slashed it through the Ark as she twirled like a dancer to gain momentum. "HA!!" 

Megami was equipped with an enchanted bow, and from her fingers appeared an arrow of light which pointed ahead of her. Tea gave the order for her to attack Flame Swordsman, which the fairy did immediately. The slash speed must've been high, since the arrow was powerful enough to obliterate the Swordsman in one shot. Across the street, they could hear Joey yell in pain and fall over as his life points decreased further. [Joey's LP: 1800]

"Woo-hoo! Fairy power!" Tea cheered. "Come on Megami, let's go get Joey before he summons a monster!" The Megami monster said something nonsensical (since the holograms normally weren't programmed for real speech), and the two charged after Joey. He proceeded to run around the parking lot as he thought of what to do.

Yugi glanced up at the creature still perched on his head, which was apparently programmed for speech. Those Duel Arks must've had really good range, or the holographic images were somehow able to maintain themselves without the Duel Ark. Either way, it was amazing. "Key Mace? Why was it that Joey was only damaged when Flame Swordsman was destroyed? Didn't Tea damage the monster before that?"

Key Mace floated in front of Yugi, anxious to answer his question. _"In a _crossover battle,_ players lose life points only when a monster is destroyed, not damaged. It's a backlash effect, caused by the sudden loss of the Duel Ark's energy. The monsters themselves have a certain amount of health, so they can take some damage before they are destroyed."_

"...Oh," Yugi said. He glanced over at the apparition of Yami, who'd been watching the battle for some time now. _You getting all this, Yami?_

_I'm listening, _he replied.

"Let's go catch up to them Grandpa!" Yugi said. He dashed across the street, with Yami in quick pursuit.

"Hey, wait for me~!" Solomon chased after his grandson, muttering under his breath that he was too old for this.

It didn't take long for them to catch up. It seemed that Joey was regaining some ground, as he'd played the Red Eyes Black Dragon at some point. Tea was defending with the Wabaku card, which put a trio of priests around her and created an impenetrable barrier that the Red Eyes could not break through. How long this would last was anyone's guess.

_"Both players can draw cards until they have five at any given time," _Key Mace said. _"Your monster in play counts as a card in your hand, remember!"_

Joey nodded. "Right. I've got my Red Eyes on the field, and two cards in my hand, so I need to draw two more to get five." He did so, and smiled evilly at what he got. "Aww, yeah! This is gonna rock! I've got this battle in the bag! Burger World, here I come!"

Tea noticed that she had only two cards in her hand, so she drew three more and hoped she got a monster that could stand up to the Red Eyes Black Dragon. But the only monsters she drew were Happy Lover and Shining Friendship – two fairies with a power level less than 4, meaning they were weak as far as Duel Monsters went. The Wabaku effect wouldn't last much longer, so she decided to go for broke and played them together. "Shining Friendship! And I slash the Happy Lover card to power up Shining Friendship!" 

"That's not going to be much of a boost," Yugi said regretfully.

The Key Mace giggled. _"Wait and see." _Yugi blinked, and watched intently.

Shining Friendship appeared on the field, as expected. When Tea slashed the Happy Lover card, the monster appeared beside the fairy. The two creatures started to glow, and they swirled like an inverted whirlpool as they slowly merged into one light.

Joey's eyes widened. "Uh-oh! They're fusing!"

"That can't be!" Solomon shouted. "Tea doesn't have a Polymerization card!"

_"You don't need one," _the Mace replied. _"Those two monsters were so highly compatible, that they fused when Tea combined them. And now she's got a fairy that even the Red Eyes Black Dragon should be afraid of!"_ Everyone watched in awe as the two fairies merged to become a duel monster that looked like the Happy Lover, only bigger, pinker, and with six wings instead of two. It was the Godzilla of fairies!

"That's the Heavenly Lover!!" Solomon said in amazement. "It's one of the ultra rare Immortal monsters! Those kinds of monsters cannot be destroyed!"

Joey sweatdropped. "Are you _serious_!? You mean... that thing just _can't_ die?"

Solomon relented. "Well... there are ways to defeat it. But only the best duelists can manage it."

Yugi sweatdropped. "I think Joey is in trouble."

Key Mace had a wide grin. _"Meh-beh."_

Tea blinked. "Cool! Let's go beat up Joey some more!"

"NO!! Let's not go beat up Joey some more!" Joey slashed his Dragon Claws magic card, which would boost the attack power of his dragon considerably. "Stomp that giant fairy Red Eyes, while I find a place to plan our next strategy!" Joey ran to hide behind a parked car as the dragon flew through the air and met the Heavenly Lover in battle.

_This is... familiar,_ Yami thought as he watched the scene play out. _These Duel Arks are modern devices, but this battle has happened before. I remember... _

--

Pharoah paced the halls of his esteemed palace, the pinnacle of Egyptian architecture and beauty. It was early in the day, and his vizier Simon Muran was reading off the day's business to him as he dressed.

"You wished to visit the tomb of your mother and the former Pharoah today. And you wished to consecrate the statues of Ra, Obelisk, and Osiris atop the Veja Cathedral today. I also believe that Priest Seto wishes for your presence during the cleansing of the travelers from the Eastern Lands. And your presence is required at Juri's purification ritual. Seto and the priests are having difficulty extracting the monster sleeping within her soul."

Pharoah considered his robes, which were so fine that no one else on Earth could hope to achieve this level of beauty with mere clothing. But he didn't want to wear them today. He wished to be some place else. "Simon, please forgive me."

The vizier was taken aback. "Ph-pharoah? It is not my place to forgive you. You are the incarnation of the gods! It is you who should forgive me for my life's transgressions."

"...I am going to see Anzu and Jono today," the Pharoah said. He reached underneath his silk sleeping cushion and pulled out a set of ragged cloaks like those worn by the street workers. Simon Muran was aghast as his Pharoah dressed himself with these filthy garments.

"My lord, please reconsider this course of action!" Simon pleaded. "You dictated this schedule with the intent of following it through to its conclusion, yes?"

Pharoah finished dressing himself, and pulled the cloak's hood over his head. From the outside, he looked just like a commoner. "That is true. But I am tired at the moment, and I wish to relax."

"Then I shall call the harem!" Simon replied. Pharoah quickly stopped him.

"Please, faithful Simon. Allow me to entertain my silly human desires at least some of the time." Pharoah grabbed the final piece of his disguise, a pile of old linen bandages like those used on the mummies of the deceased. "My visits with Anzu and Jono are important to me."

Simon considered the Pharoah's words. Even though he was duty-bound to keep the young pharoah focused, he was also duty-bound to follow his wishes. Yet neither of those compared to his heart's wishes and his mind's memories. This young pharoah was like a son to him, and he wanted him to be happy. He would not be corrupted by playing with the commoners.

Simon bowed. "As you wish, my lord. I will await your return, and no one will learn of your whereabouts from me."

Pharoah bowed in return, which was never done by someone of his rank. Bows were done only for those superior to yourself. "Thank you, old friend. I shall return by nightfall."

"Nightfall!!?" Simon gasped. The pharoah leapt from his window, and slid down the side of his palace until he was in the back alley, then ran the rest of the way into the market area. Simon groaned and sagged his shoulders. "I fear that the world's fate lies in the hands of a boy who takes far too many risks."

--

Anzu and Jono slowly entered the Veja Cathedral, amazed at what they saw. The young thief named Yugi told them of a place where even the commonfolk could invoke the magic of the gods – the magic that only the Pharoah and his priests could wield. It was a scary thought to enter a place normally forbidden to all people but the Pharoah and his attendants. But Yugi promised them that everything would be all right.

"Yugi, are you sure this is a good idea?" Anzu asked. The young girl was a slave brought over from the Northern Lands, where white-skinned people lived in barbaric tribes. She was born a barbarian, but raised an Egyptian. She was a slave, but she loved Egypt more than most of the natives did.

"Come on, we can trust him; he's never let us down before." Jono was the son of an Egyptian warrior, which meant that by law he would become a warrior himself. Although Jono was inept at combat and equally inept at providing inspiration to his troops, he was destined to become a great leader of men and a warrior for the Pharoah. Despite this, he disregarded his rank almost as much as he went against his father's wishes.

The pharoah smiled beneath his cloak. In his guise of "Yugi", he was a beggar with a forgotten past, and a passion for Dueling. He claimed he was born into slavery but possessed the gift that allowed humans to summon spirits. However, he'd been cursed with leprosy, which made him a lost soul in other people's eyes. So he wandered the streets of Egypt in search of food, water, and companionship. It was a good back story in the pharoah's opinion. It gave him a reason to wear the hood and cloak even when he was with his friends. But he also had to wear a lot of bandages over his hands and arms, since lepers could spread their disease with a touch. The bandages would protect others from the disease, and would also hold their rotting flesh together. The pharoah was glad he was not truly a leper – their descriptions made them seem like they were undead.

There was a roar in the distance, and Anzu leapt to Yugi's side. She clenched his bandaged arm tightly, afraid for her life. Jono, on the other hand, seemed more nervous than afraid.

Yugi lightly touched the back of Anzu's hand, which calmed her as if his touch was magical. "Do not worry. Nothing will harm us here. Some of the spirits rage against their prisons within the stone tablets, but there is little they can do without a magician to summon them."

Jono looked around, amazed at the sheer number of tablets stacked, piled, and propped against each other in this church. "Is every spirit collected by the Pharoah's priests stored here?"

"Yes," he replied. "The priests look for people with the aura of a spirit around them, and search their souls for the source of that aura. The spirit is then drawn out and trapped within these tablets, so that they cannot harm their host in the future. They also make fine weapons to protect Egypt from the barbarians of distant lands."

"That is... incredible," Anzu cooed. "And you believe that Jono and I have the talent for this magic?"

"Yes, I do," Yugi said. "And to prove it, I shall guide you through a Duel with the tablets."

"D-Duel!?" Jono and Anzu cried. Jono added, "But is a Duel not lethal to the loser?"

"Sometimes," Yugi replied as he approached the ritual area. "But only if the victor wishes it. And I assume neither of you wish to kill each other."

"Of course not," Anzu said. "But why should we Duel? I am but a slave, and Jono is a warrior. It is not right to use the Pharoah's tablets without his permission. The gods would surely punish us. And... I do not wish to cause the two of you any trouble should something bad happen."

The pharoah turned, and slowly removed his hood. Anzu and Jono cried out in surprise as they saw the visage of their supposedly deformed friend. "Y-Yugi...? You're..." Jono fell to his knees instantly, while Tea stuttered over her sentence. She was sure that Pharoah was here to punish her!

He approached and calmly touched her face, as he'd touched her so many times before. Again, she felt calm and relaxed at his touch. "Do not be afraid. I am here to help you two realize your true potential. If you indeed possess the power of magic... then your lives would take a turn for the better. Please, trust me Anzu."

"Yugi..." she weeped. She fell at her pharoah's feet and kissed them out of sheer joy. Pharoah sweatdropped. It was technically the proper etiquette, but it was embaressing.

When Anzu was done with her praise and a bit calmer, they awoke Jono from his slumber. Apparently, he'd fallen asleep while prostrating before Pharoah and waiting for his command to rise. Once they were ready, Pharoah told them to stand at opposite ends of the ritual floor, and taught them the basics of summoning the tablets. Once they were sure they were ready, he told them to summon their first tablets to the area.

"Concentrate," Pharoah said softly. "Bring a tablet here that matches what you feel in your heart. If you have faith in yourself and your power, you will be rewarded."

It took some time, but they were able to succeed without any assistance from Pharoah's magic. Jono brought forth a tablet that depicted a swordsman wielding a flaming weapon. It floated before him, and the spirit appeared from the tablet as a physical being at Jono's command. Jono was so excited by his feat, that the tablet dropped with a loud crash. Pharoah chided him, and Jono regained control of himself and the tablet. It resumed its floating, and the Flame Swordsman waited for a command.

Anzu did the same, calling on the power of something sweet, gentle, and beautiful. It was her image of Yugi that she was imagining. Despite his supposedly scarred form, he was a kind man that could cure her fears with a touch. His soul was pure, warm, and strong. In that way, he'd been beautiful. Now that she knew that he was the Pharoah, long praised for his appearance, she knew that his beauty extended even further.

A tablet appeared before Anzu, and from it emerged a fairy creature of great beauty and power. It stood before the swordsman that Jono had summoned, and seemed defiant against the other monster despite looking like a peaceful creature.

Pharoah smiled at his two friends, now certain that they had the power to become true magicians. He would have Simon test them tomorrow, and they would surely pass. Then they would become one of Simon's students, and they could be together in public without fear of reprisal. "Now... let us continue the practice Duel." Anzu and Jono readily agreed.

Tomorrow at sunset, the newest group of magic students would be chosen. And Anzu and Jono were sure to be two of them. But so would that mysterious girl that frightened the priests so much. That girl, Juri...

--

Yami awoke from his memory as Joey cried about his loss at the hands of the Heavenly Lover. Tea was doing her trademark victory pose, while little Yugi was cheering for her as he promised he would. Solomon was consoling Joey...sort of.

"It was a tough loss, my boy," Solomon said, "but you must face it like a man." Solomon ran over and did a victory pose with Tea. "Congratulations Tea! A sweet and pretty girl like you wouldn't leave a hungry old man by the wayside, would you?"

"Of course not Grandpa!" Tea said happily. "Joey would be happy to pay for your food on our All-You-Can-Eat day too! Ri~ght, Joey?"

Joey cried into his arm. "You'll pay for this, you dirty rats! I'll have my revenge!" He fell over in exasperation. "Yugi, could I borrow some money?"

Yami smiled lightly. _Joey hasn't changed in five thousand years. He may speak a new language, but he is still the same bumbling warrior I remember._ Yami returned to the safety of Yugi's mind, and put in his vote for what they should eat during Joey's All-You-Can-Eat treat.


	3. Pikawho? Trainer Ash Ketchum!

Yugi awoke with a start as his alarm went off. He groggily slapped the Snooze button, which ended the annoying sound as quickly as it started. The boy sat up, rubbed his eyes, and tried to remember why he turned his alarm on.

_"Good morning Yugi,"_ said the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. Yami manifested beside the boy's bed, a smile on his face. "_Did you forget what today was?"_

Yugi looked at him, totally baffled. "What are you talking about? It's Saturday, isn't it?"

Yami started to look annoyed. _"We're supposed to meet Joey at the harbor. The S.S. Aqua leaves for Monster Island today, remember?"_

Yugi fell out of bed. "Oh no! I almost forgot!" The boy ran to his closet and dug through the pile of clothes there, while at the same time trying to get out of his blue, star covered pajamas. "Good thing you remembered."

_"I was working on deck strategies all night,"_ Yami said. _"It was tough to decide what cards would work best with this battle system, since I am not familiar with the other games that are included in this tournament."_

"I know... it's been a while since I've played any of those games." Yugi slid into his black leather pants, which were a part of the "street duelist" uniform Joey had bought him for his birthday recently. It would be hell trying to get into the belt-shirt that went with it. Leave it to Joey to make him look like some dominatrix's slave and call it "cool".

Yugi glanced over at his protector, who waited patiently while looking out the window of Yugi's room. "Yami? Why are we going to this tournament? What is it that made you want to go?"

Yami frowned at the question, but answered. _"Looking at the billboard your friends pointed out awoke some of my memories. A girl... Juri, is going to be at that tournament. At least, her reincarnation is."_

"Her reincarnation? You mean like I am to you?"

_"That's right."_ Yami turned and leaned against the window sill. _"In my time, Juri was a Hebrew slave who became a student of Simon Muran, a great magician and adviser to the Pharaoh before me."_

"The Pharaoh before you? You mean your father?"

Yami closed his eyes. _"Yes... my father. Simon raised me in my parents' stead. My father died while battling a Hebrew magician named Moses. My mother died shortly after and was buried with him."_

"...I'm sorry," Yugi said sadly. It reminded him of his own father, who died a long time ago as well.

Yami shook his head, wordlessly indicating that Yugi didn't need to apologize. _"The Pharaoh's priests discovered that Juri possessed a Ka... the spirit of a Duel Monster in my time. They tried to draw it out and capture it within a tablet, but each attempt failed. The Ka was too powerful to be contained by one tablet."_

Yugi finished snapping his belt-shirt, and put on the neckband that connected to his Millennium Puzzle. He locked it in place. "What did they do?"

_"...They were forced to capture the Ka in five tablets."_

"Five tablets!!?" Yugi gasped. "You mean... like five cards?"

Yami looked at him grimly. _"Yes. The Ka was contained within five tablets, but the priests and the Pharaoh were unable to sever the girl's link with those tablets. They were afraid that if she were to learn the ways of magic, she would be able to release the Ka's full power. So they imprisoned her before Simon could complete her training."_

Yugi trembled. The thought of someone controlling the power of Exodia like that... it was unreal. "So they just left her there? That's so sad..."

_"The story didn't end there,"_ Yami said. _"Juri wasn't just a Hebrew slave; she was also the lover of a Japanese prince. This prince and a band of legendary warriors tried to free her, and attacked the Pharaoh's city using their magical powers. They could not summon Ka... but they commanded powerful beasts created by the forces of Thunder and Lightning. Electricity bound in flesh and blood."_

"A second type of monster?" Yugi asked. "Made of electricity?"

Yami nodded. _"They failed to free Juri from the Pharaoh's dungeons, but they made a prophecy with their last breaths. They said that one day, after the Forbidden Ka was freed, the Pharaoh would be defeated by the very power he sought to lock away."_

"You mean somebody will defeat you with Exodia!?" Yugi cried. "But that's impossible! Grandpa is the only person whose ever had a complete set of Exodia cards! And we lost three of them at sea!"

_"...I don't think this is merely tied to cards, Yugi,"_ Yami affirmed. _"The prophecy speaks of the Forbidden Ka being freed. It sounds like they were referring to Exodia being released from his prison."_

"...Becoming real?"

Yami looked at his Aibou with the determined glare that only an ageless spirit could manage. _"I am going to Monster Duel EX to find this girl, and ensure once and for all that Exodia is sealed. The Pharaoh and his priests were unable to do so in the past... but I have something they didn't have."_

"What's that?"

The spirit looked down at the Millennium Puzzle, hanging around Yugi's neck. _"I have you. With you, my powers are magnified. Two souls in perfect synchronization can accomplish feats that even an army of wizards could not."_ Yami put a ghostly hand on his partner's shoulder. _"Together, you and I will destroy Exodia, before his power is used by an evil force."_

Yami faded from sight, returning to the Millennium Puzzle and Yugi's subconscious mind. Yugi considered his words, and understood why Yami wanted to go. As always, the two of them were going to save the world... and this time, they were literally saving it. If Exodia was ever freed from his prison, he could wipe out a planet and everything on it.

"Alright! Let's go!" Yugi grabbed the Industrial Illusions® sports bag containing his Duel Ark, his cards, and the supplies he'd packed for the tournament. He raced out the door of his bedroom, ready to take on the world.

  


--

  


Kaiba's private helicopter flew over the city of Domino, the city that the Kaiba family had under its thumb as far as the economy went. Sakura looked out of the helicopter, excited to be so high in the air and in such an expensive helicopter, just so that she could go to a luxury boat! She figured it would have been easier just to take a cab, or walk, but Set-san had his own way of doing things. She and Mokuba took it as a chance to see the city in its entirety from high above. Domino was beautiful when seen as a whole.

"Oh, look at that!" Sakura gasped. Mokuba looked over her shoulder at what she was pointing at. It turned out to be the harbor, where the luxury boat was anchored. The boat was huge, even by his standards. You could fit two football fields on that thing. And all of this was provided for only 400 competitors? What was Zero thinking? He must've been the richest man in the world, or he liked to show off what money he had.

"When we land, make sure you keep an eye on Sakura," Kaiba warned his brother. "Zero doesn't want his robot to be broken before he gets use out of it."

Sakura frowned at the older Kaiba. "Seto-sama, do you have to call me that?" It was easy for her to get touchy when he referred to her as a robot all the time, instead of a person.

Kaiba scowled back. "I make it a point to call people what they are, not what they pretend to be."

Sakura blinked. "Then how come you only do that to me? You never call Mokuba anything!" Mokuba sweatdropped; he really didn't want to be in this fight.

"If it makes you feel any better..." Kaiba shut his suitcase full of Duel Monster cards as the helicopter approached the landing pad. "...I always called my stepfather, 'Old Drunk'."

"...Seto," Mokuba whispered. His brother stepped off the helicopter, not bothering to duck like the pilot and his co-pilot were. Sakura and Mokuba looked at each other, and quickly followed Kaiba to the stairwell that lead to the main harbor.

"I think he's still sore about that loss," Sakura said as the younger Kaiba helped her off the helicopter. "Or he just doesn't like me being around."

"Don't worry. Seto really does like you. He just doesn't show it very well."

"Then why does he say those things about me?" she asked. "He acts like he doesn't care about my feelings."

"Seto isn't very good with 'feelings'... Our stepfather taught him that emotion was a weakness. So he tried to beat it out of him. After a while, Seto just stopped expressing his feelings, and ignored everyone else's."

Sakura couldn't imagine what that was like. She always felt bad for Seto when Mokuba talked about their past... how their stepfather abused them. Mokuba was always so proud of his brother. Seto protected his little brother from the worst of their stepfather's abuse, and Kaiba took it no matter how horrible it was. Mokuba loved his brother more than anything because of that. But now as an adult, Seto was feeling the repercussions of all that abuse, in the way he treated people around him. He treated them as things to beat... things to defeat, and show that he was their superior.

"...I hope your brother can express his feelings someday, like you do," Sakura said, watching the older Kaiba talk to a harbor guard.

"Me too," Mokuba replied. "...Me too." They followed Seto as he walked towards the luxury cruiser, and gazed in awe at the sheer size of the ship. For children their age, it was an amazing sight to see – better than Tokyo Tower!

"Come on, you two," Kaiba ordered. Sakura and Mokuba whispered something to each other. Kaiba turned and looked at them with annoyance. "Well? Let's go!"

Sakura and Mokuba smiled, and jumped over to the stunned adult. Suddenly, they each had one of his arms and held them like devoted little children did when in the presence of a parent.

Sakura clutched the young man's arm, hugging it like a teddy bear. "We're ready when you are, Seto-sama!"

"What the heck are you to doing?" Kaiba asked, not amused in the slightest. He was even more surprised when Mokuba snatched Kaiba's suitcase from him. "Hey!"

"I can carry that, big brother," the boy said with a big smile. "I want to hold your hand like we did when we were kids!"

"Me too!" Sakura said, looking up at the boy oh-so-sweetly. "Pleeease?"

Kaiba still did not look amused. "Are you two trying to embarrass me?"

"Yup!" they replied in unison.

"Grow up." Kaiba shook Sakura off his left arm, and snatched his suitcase out of Mokuba's hand. He turned and started walking towards the ship again, leaving the two kids behind. They stared incredulously at the man as the crowd made way for his approach.

"...Are you _sure_ he has a heart?" Sakura asked.

"Look at it this way!" Mokuba said, finger held up like an estranged professor. "He didn't want to walk to the ship like that, because he _would_ have been embarrassed if he did! Only people with hearts can get embarrassed!"

"I guess so. But can you imagine him blushing?" Mokuba laughed at the image. 

They raced towards the ship, trying to keep up with Seto without getting swallowed up by the crowd. The two managed to get to the ship ramp, where a ticket booth was setup and a man was checking several people trying to get on the boat. This batch happened to have fake tickets, so they were carted away by a group of security guards.

"Hi Tony!" Sakura said, waving at the ticket man. He was an employee of Kaiba Corp who showed up from time to time, and was a friendly gentleman. "Can we get on?"

"Sure thing kids," he replied, opening the gate for them. "Just make sure you stay out of trouble."

"Aww, you're no fun," Mokuba pouted. Tony chuckled and waved them through. Sakura raced Mokuba to the top of the ramp, where Kaiba was waiting for them with an impatient look on his face. They stopped their laughing, and stood there as silent as could be. Kaiba just shook his head.

"Here." He handed them a key. "This is your room. Your luggage is in there."

Mokuba blinked. "One key? You mean we have the same room? B-b-but... Seto!"

"I'm not paying for a robot to have her own room," he said icily. Nobody was close enough to hear him say that, but the kids weren't sure he cared or not. Seto could say anything he wanted and get away with it, considering the amount of influence he had. Nobody would dare question what they heard. "Just put her in the closet when she turns off." Sakura looked down, ashamed at Kaiba's words. Mokuba gave his brother an angry look, but Seto didn't seem to care.

"I'm in Room 1, the presidential suite," he said. "Contact me by cell phone if I'm not there." Kaiba turned and headed off, leaving Mokuba angry and Sakura on the verge of tears.

"...I guess he's right," Sakura said softly. "I can just deactivate myself and stay in the the closet until we arrive at the island." Sakura started walking down the carpet that would lead to their room, until Mokuba grabbed her by the wrist rather suddenly.

"That's nonsense," he said evenly. "You'll sleep on the bed. I'll use the floor." He smiled. "It'll be like camping out."

"Mokuba... you don't have to do that. It's not like I'll be uncomfortable or anything."

"Maybe not, but I'll feel better. I don't like my friends to sleep in closets." Sakura smiled warmly.

"...Capu-kun." That was her nickname for Mokuba, because of his favorite game that he tried unsuccessfully to teach Sakura to play.

"Now come on! Let's go check out the rest of the ship!" Mokuba dragged the surprised girl by the hand to the entertainment section of the deck, where most of the ship's patrons were congregating.

  


--

  


Rika wandered the ship, thinking to herself if all this was such a good idea. Coming to the tournament to promote it was a good way to get some extra cash, and it she expected the competition to be fierce. It sounded like a lot of fun. But her mind kept going back home, where Ryo was. She hadn't heard from him since their fight, and she hadn't seen him on the boat, so it looked like he decided not to come to the tournament. Just as well! If he had, she wouldn't want to see his face anyway. And if he stuck around too long, she'd have axed him from the tournament herself! That perverted cowboy wannabe!

Or that's what she kept telling herself. A part of her hated Ryo for what he did. But another part of her wanted to forgive him so that Rika wouldn't be alone anymore. The last thing Rika wanted to do was crawl back to anyone, especially a boy, and especially when he was the one who'd caused them to break up. But still, that part of her nagged at her mind. If she didn't do something with her time, she'd be left with nothing but her thoughts. She had to find something to do, or at least something to watch.

Rika entered the entertainment area, where several small game centers were set up for the players to use while they waited for the boat to reach its destination. There were several Duel Stadiums for those who wanted to play Duel Monsters or Digimon. There were also a couple Arena Floors for the people who played Pokemon, apparently. Rika had never seen a Pokemon battle, and now she was curious since there were going to be a lot of Pokemon players here. She heard a pair of boys talking about a battle starting right now between two good players, so she followed them to the appropriate arena. When she got there, she saw two boys that looked like they were her age. But they looked as competitive as those Duel Monster freaks she'd read about in the news!

"You ready Ash!?" said one of them, a boy dressed in a green sweat suit with green fingerless gloves and a multicolored hat. He reached towards his belt, and pulled three tiny metal balls from it. Each ball was marked with a yellow star; it looked like a sticker. "Three Pokemon!"

The other kid, "Ash", was dressed in a black T-shirt that hugged his body, and a pair of black jeans. He had a pair of fingerless gloves on too, with red streaks like flames on them. He reached for the backside of his belt and pulled out three tiny balls as well, one situated between each finger. He fanned out his hand before his face. "Three Pokemon. I just hope you've leveled up a bit since the last time we battled, Ritchie!"

"Oh, you bet I have! And I've even added some new Pokemon to my team! Let me show one of them to you!!" Ritchie threw one of his balls towards the center of the arena floor. The ball expanded in midair, like a mechanical balloon suddenly being inflated. It bounced off the floor, and instantly opened to unleash a beam of red light that expanded into a hologram. The ball reversed its acceleration without being touched, and flew right back into Ritchie's hand. He caught it proficiently. "Hitmonken!"

Rika never saw a monster quite like that one. It looked like a little brown creature dressed in a black robe like those worn by the samurai in old movies. On his head was a wicker hat that covered his face, and in his hand was a metal sword as long as he was tall – about two feet. It was kinda cute, but at the same time looked like a monster meant for battle. [Level 57 – Fighting Type]

Ash smiled at the monster. "A Hitmonken, eh? I heard those are really hard to find. But I'm guessing you got him from Route 29 in the Lost Kanto region."

Ritchie grimaced. "That's none of your business. The fact of the matter is that he's the toughest Fighting Pokemon ever discovered. And mine is at such a high level, that none of your monsters can match it."

"We'll see." Ash chose one of his balls and pocketed the other two. "Pokeball, go!!" The ball flew through the air as Ritchie's had, and released an owl with odd color patterns. [Level 65 – Flying/Psychic Type]

"A Noctowl, eh?" Ritchie said, somewhat amused. "You think your Noctowl can keep up with Hitmonken?"

"We'll find out, won't we!" Ash shouted. "Noctowl, go!" The bird flew into the air above the two-foot fighter. "Fly as high as you can and come down for a strafing run!" Noctowl obeyed, gaining altitude before looping around and flying along the edge of the ship. Other boat riders had to dodge out of the way of the holographic monster or get hit by it.

"Quick Attack!!" Ritchie ordered. Hitmonken blurred out of sight as he moved in for the attack. Noctowl was stunned by the incredibly fast maneuver, but Ash ordered his Pokemon with unerring efficiently, helping it to regain focus.

"It's coming from the left at 10' o clock!" Ash shouted. Noctowl dove in the opposite direction, just as Hitmonken slashed his sword several times in the space where the bird Pokemon was moments before. 

Rika was aghast. _How could he see something moving so fast? I couldn't even see it..._ _Maybe it was just a lucky guess. The Pokemon community is full of kids; none of them are anything to a Tamer like me. _Despite this line of thought, Rika couldn't keep her eyes off the battle as Ash and Ritchie commanded their monsters with expert efficiency. Finally, after several feints and glancing blows, Noctowl scored a solid blow on the fighting Pokemon, and knocked it out completely. The round went to Ash.

Ritchie groaned, and held out his pokeball. "Hitmonken, return!" The Pokemon dissolved into red energy, and the energy flew into the pokeball as it closed. Ritchie held the ball close and whispered a few words of consolation before pocketing it again.

"They don't make rare Pokemon like they used to," Ash said, smiling. "Or maybe you've just been taking it easy on your training ever since you won the Kanto Cup last year. A Pokemon that slow wouldn't last a second over in Hoen." Ritchie smirked at Ash's taunting. Rika got the feeling that they were good friends, since neither of them seemed to be taking this battle seriously.

Ritchie drew another pokeball and threw it. "Sparky, I choose you!!" Ritchie's pokeball opened to reveal the biggest mouse she'd ever seen. Its cheeks were red, and the fur on its head was wild like the hair of a little boy. [Level 91 – Electric Type]

"What is that thing?" Rika asked.

The kid next to her looked at her like she had the plague. "Where've you been for the last seven years? That's a Pikachu! And Ritchie's is the strongest Pikachu that I've ever seen!"

"Thundershock!!" Ritchie ordered. This time, his Pokemon's attack worked in his favor. The Pikachu charged up with electricity before charging at Ash's Noctowl. Before the creature could react, the Pikachu put its tail next to Noctowl's and let loose with its built-up electricity. Noctowl screeched as it was electrocuted, and fell to the ground as its energy was expended. Ash couldn't believe it! Noctowl had gone down in one hit!

"Didn't expect Noctowl to go down so quickly," Ritchie teased. "But I guess since Flying types are vulnerable to Electricity, it makes sense that he wouldn't stand a chance. Or maybe Sparky is just too much for your Pokemon to handle." 

Ash ordered his unconscious Pokemon to return, and switched to his second pokeball. "I can take anything you can dish out! Pikachu, your turn!" Ash's Pokemon appeared in a flash, and without hesitation it charged for its opponent.

"Agility!" the trainer's shouted in unison. Soon, both Pikachu's were invisible to the eye again. Rika tried to keep up, but like the other members of the audience, she was unable to keep up with the two Pokemon. Amazingly, Ash and Ritchie seemed to have no trouble!

"Sparky is fast," Ash complimented. "But he's not as fast as Pikachu is."

"Are you sure about that?" Ritchie countered. "Let's find out. Quick Attack!"

"Quick Attack!" Ash mimicked. Both Pokemon froze at opposite ends of the arena, and zig-zagged along the edges of the field until they collided at full-speed. Neither monster dealt any damage; their attacks canceled each other out. They tried again, and again, but neither Pokemon could get around the other. Finally, both trainers ordered them to stop, and both Pikachus returned to their trainer's side.

"It looks like we're evenly matched Ash. We're not going to get anywhere with Electric attacks, and our Pokemon's Speed are practically the same."

Ash chuckled. "Good thing my Pikachu knows a few other tricks. Flash!!"

"Wha-!?" Ash's Pokemon leaped a good twelve feet into the air, then unleashed its electrical power as a wave of light that enveloped the arena. Everyone covered their eyes to keep from going blind, but they could still hear Ash give the order to attack. By the time the Flash had ended, Ash's Pikachu had scored several hits on Ritchie's Pokemon. Sparky was still able to fight, but he looked weaker than before.

"That was a cheap shot!" Ritchie snapped. "And since when did your Pikachu know Flash!?"

"I plan on winning this tournament," Ash said. "So Pikachu and I have worked on some new moves. Zap Cannon!!"

Ritchie couldn't believe it! "No way!! No Pikachu can learn Zap Cannon!" But despite that simple fact, Ash's Pokemon was powering up that attack! Ritchie managed to recover his senses, and realized he'd have to knockout Pikachu here and now before he can unleash that next attack. "Sparky! Tackle Attack!!" Sparky charged straight at Pikachu, who was too busy charging up to notice the attacker.

"Agility! Phase in and out!" Ash ordered. Pikachu disappeared just as Sparky rushed past, then reappeared a split-second later. "Attack now!!" Pikachu whipped around, and released all the pent-up electricity in his system in the form of a Zap Cannon attack. Despite Sparky's resistance to electricity, he couldn't defend against so much power. Sparky flew back, landing at Ash's feet and not getting back up.

Ritchie stared silently at the scene before ordering Sparky to return. He looked at Ash, cold and calculating. Play time was over, it seemed. "...How did you do that? Pikachu can't learn Zap Cannon. Believe me, I've tried."

Ash winked. "Sorry, that's privileged information. I can't tell even you, Ritchie."

Ritchie tsked. "Fine. I'll beat Pikachu anyway." Ritchie threw his last pokeball onto the field, and out popped a blue, four-legged creature with a green bud on its back. A kid in the audience identified it as a Bulbasaur. [Level 25 – Grass Type]

Ash looked confused. "A Bulbasaur?" Are you sure that's such a good idea Ritchie? I know Grass types are resistant to electricity, but... Bulbasaur's not going to last long."

Ritchie's frown turned into a knowing leer. "You wouldn't say that if you were paying attention. Look around his neck." Ash did so, and noticed a red collar around the creature, with a metal brooch in the center. "That's a Power Guard. It takes one of my Technical Machines and equips it to my Pokemon for the entire battle. It's a little thing I won at the Kanto Cup you're so fond of making fun of."

That did sound like a good power-up, but Ash wasn't worried. "As if Bulbasaur has any attacks that would make me worry. Pikachu, Raigeki!!" Ash ordered his Pokemon to launch its thunderbolt, and the attack flew through the air at the Bulbasaur. The attack collided with something hovering just above Ritchie's Pokemon, and Bulbasaur didn't seem to be damaged.

"Whoa!" shouted a kid in the audience. "That looked like a Substitute!"

Ritchie pointed at Ash's Pikachu. "Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!" Bulbasaur's attack cut through Pikachu's defenses, and knocked him back even further. Amazingly, the little critter was still conscious.

"At least now I can attack since the Substitute was destroyed," Ash said. "Pikachu, finish him with another Thunderbolt!" Pikachu used the attack again, but again Bulbasaur was protected by an unseen force.

"Hold on! How did you block that attack!" Ash shouted. "There's no way your Bulbasaur's Substitute could survive Pikachu's Thunderbolt!"

Ritchie shrugged. "I guess I should have explained it better. I gave Bulbasaur my Power Guard, and also gave him the Substitute TM. Substitute creates an alter ego of my Pokemon that protects it from enemy attack. It's true that Substitutes don't have a lot of Hit Points, but the Power Guard gets around that by making the effect last for the entire battle."

Ash growled. "But... if Power Guard lasts the entire battle, then... I can't knock out your Substitute! Your Bulbasaur will be invulnerable!"

Ritchie put a finger to his nose. "On the nose-ey, Ash. Which means I have ample time to use my attacks to defeat any of your Pokemon, no matter how strong they are." 

Ash stared at the Bulbasaur, and a ghostly image of a black-skinned Bulbasaur floated over it. It was true; the Substitute was still there... and it didn't look damaged in the slightest.

"Face it Ash; I've been getting ready for this tournament too. And I plan on winning. Bulbasaur, finish it!!" The Pokemon obeyed and launched its Razor Leaf attack.

"Pikachu, return!" Ash shouted quickly. Just as the Razor Leaf would have hit, Pikachu disappeared in a flash of red light. Ash frowned as he thought of what to do.

"You only have one other Pokemon, Ash," Ritchie taunted. "And there's no way for you to get past Bulbasaur and his Power Guard. So you might as well give up."

Ash glared at his opponent. "You'd like that, wouldn't you." Ash opened his pokeball, releasing Pikachu again. "Zap Cannon!" The exhausted Pokemon started to charge up its attack again. Lightning crackled along its cheeks.

"What's he doing?" an audience member said. "That Pikachu can't fight in its condition."

Rika frowned in thought. _What is he planning?_

Ritchie sighed. "I hate to do this, but its better to end it quickly. Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!" The grass Pokemon's leaves struck full-force, only to burst into flames the moment they touched Pikachu's charged fur. Pikachu didn't even flinch.

Ritchie frowned. "Tackle Attack!" he ordered. Bulbasaur ran full-speed towards the enemy monster, only to be knocked back by a burst of static discharge. "Again!" Ritchie ordered. Bulbasaur charged even harder this time, but it met with the same result. Bulbasaur wasn't able to damage Pikachu!

"Pikachu's defense increases while he's charging up," Ash informed him. "Normally you don't notice it, because his attacks are lightning quick. But now, it's keeping him safe from your Bulbasaur. You'll have to use something stronger than that if you want to hurt him now."

"...Alright then. You asked for it. Bulbasaur, power up your Solar Beam! Blow him away!!" Bulbasaur started to gather sunlight into its flower, and collected this energy in front of him as a ball of light. At the same time, Pikachu continued to charge up his attack. It looked like they would unleash their attacks at the same time!

Rika reached into her pocket and put on her shades. _This is going to be good._

"It's useless, Ash. Your Pikachu's attack won't get past my Substitute. You should give up before Pikachu really gets hurt."

Ash slowly held up his arm, and extended his finger towards Bulbasaur. "Pikachu... ZAP CANNON!!" 

Ritchie growled. "SOLAR BEAM!!" The two monsters attacked, and lightning collided with light. The energies coalesced into one explosion that swept over the entire arena and roared like a dragon. The trainers stood their ground, neither willing to look away for fear of losing sight of their Pokemon.

When the light cleared, Pikachu was down, and he wasn't moving. Bulbasaur stood up slowly, but he was still conscious. The round went to Ritchie, tying them at two Pokemon each. Ash commanded Pikachu to return, and drew his last pokeball.

"You failed, Ash," the other trainer said impassively. "Pikachu is your strongest Pokemon, and even he couldn't defeat Bulbasaur and his Power Guard. So what do you think you can accomplish now?"

"Pikachu accomplished what I wanted him to do," said Ash. Ritchie's expression showed his curiosity, but Ash wasn't talking. "Typhlosion, go!!" Ash called his last Pokemon, which was difficult for Rika to describe. Its powers were based on fire, judging from the reddish coloring and the flames that spurted from its mouth occasionally. But she didn't know what animal could compare to its form. [Level 71 – Fire Type]

"Typhlosion, run to Bulbasaur's side and use Flamethrower, now!" The Pokemon obeyed, stomping its way across the arena at an angle. Ritchie was incredulous to Ash's strategy. It didn't make any sense for him to attack when Bulbasaur was still protected by the Power Guard and the Bulbasaur Substitute. Still... he had to watch out. Ash was known for coming from behind in the most unexpected of ways. Ritchie had to finish strong.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip and throw Typhlosion into the sea!" Bulbasaur extended its vines from the base of its flower. The vines extended and tried to wrap around Typhlosion, who was too big and too slow to avoid the attack. This didn't seem to bother Ash though, as he ordered the Pokemon to "finish it". Typhlosion fired its Flamethrower straight at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur was hit dead on, and his vines burned away from the intense heat! Ritchie's Pokemon was damaged by the attack!

"What happened!?" Ritchie cried. "Substitute should still be working! Why didn't it protect him!?" Only then did he notice the ghostly figure. It was still facing forward, in Ash's direction. It hadn't moved since Ash switched Pokemon. It was almost like... "He's been paralyzed!?"

Ash smirked. "You bet. Pikachu's Zap Cannon doesn't just damage a Pokemon. It paralyzes them as well. So even though I can't knock out your Bulbasaur's Substitute, I could still paralyze him with Pikachu's attack, so that my third Pokemon wouldn't have to worry about it!"

Ritchie grimaced. Without its Substitute, his Bulbasaur was a sitting duck. Typhlosion's Fire attacks would burn it to a cinder at that level! He didn't want his Pokemon to be hurt... so he had to give up. Ritchie extended his pokeball, and ordered Bulbasaur to return. Neither Ash nor Typhlosion made a move to stop him.

"...I give up," Ritchie said reluctantly. He smiled in admiration of his opponent. "That was an awesome move Ash. I never thought the Substitute could be paralyzed just like a normal Pokemon could."

Ash called back his Typhlosion and pocketed the pokeball. "That was a great battle. Now I'm more excited than ever about this whole tournament. And we haven't even gotten to the island yet." Ritchie and Ash high-fived, and the crowd descended on the arena to congratulate them and do battles of their own.

_He's pretty good... _Rika considered what she just saw. _Those monsters... I'd heard that Pokemon were supposed to be the most advanced virtual pets ever made. They were holographic, but they could move and act like real pets, and they could even think for themselves. They're almost like our Digimon were when they became real._

Ash spoke with Ritchie and his friends a while longer, before he picked up his sports bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I'll see you guys in the cafeteria." Ritchie called him a show-off before saying good-bye, and Ash gave him a similar farewell. He slowed to a halt when he noticed Rika at the edge of the ring.

"...Misty?" he gasped. Rika blinked behind her shades. Ash got in for a closer look. "Is that you?"

"What'd you call me?" Rika answered.

Suddenly, Ash threw down his sports bag and pounced on the girl. "Misty!! Ha-ha-ha!" Rika fell over in her surprise, with Ash sitting on her stomach. "I can't believe it! I knew you'd be alright, I just knew it!"

"Get off me!" Rika snapped. She gave Ash a good shove, knocking him to the ground as he'd done to her. She stood up and dusted herself off. "What the hell is your problem, jerk!"

Ash didn't seem to understand. His clueless expression said it all. "Misty...?"

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Rika grumbled as she picked up the Walkman that hung on her belt, and grabbed her backpack. "The name's Ms. Nonaka, kid."

Ash stared at her, making Rika feel very uncomfortable. "Weirdo." She turned and walked off... for a few feet, at least. Her conscience had caught up with her quickly. She looked back, and saw Ash still sitting there, head sagged as if he were crying.

Rika walked back. "Hey, what's the matter? I only pushed you back. It couldn't have hurt that much."

"...Sorry," Ash said, standing up slowly. "I thought you were someone else." Ash grabbed his stuff and tried to walk by. Rika stepped in his way, stopping him.

"Hey... nice battle back there, by the way," she said. "I'd never seen Pokemon fight before. I never realized it was such an intense game."

"It's a sport, not a game," Ash muttered. "And thanks." He tried to walk by, and again Rika stopped him.

"That's all you have to say?"

"What do you want!?" he yelled. "I already apologized, so leave me alone!" He pushed Rika aside and ran towards the dining hall, situated on the other side of the deck. Rika frowned. She was so used to boys knowing her and talking about her behind her back. This guy actually seemed interesting, even though he played a kids game... or sport, whatever he wanted to call it.

Rika went into the hall, where dozens of kids and adults alike were ordering food from the gourmets and the various fast food vendors set up in the area. The kid Ash was sitting at a table, glancing at something that looked like one of those old Gameboy systems, but a little thinner and sleeker. She sneaked her way behind him, and glanced at the view screen. There she saw a picture of a redheaded girl, smiling and hugging Ash's neck from behind. They appeared to be outside of a house in a suburb, complete with a white picket fence and a porch swing. They looked really happy together.

"Is that who you mistook me for?" Rika asked, startling the boy. He snapped the device shut. "I guess we look kinda similar... from a boy's perspective, at least."

"It was a mistake," Ash said, putting the device in his bag. "Wishful thinking."

Rika sat down in one of the other three chairs. "Wanna tell me about?"

"Not really." Ash grabbed his stuff and stood. He was about to leave, but Rika stopped him the only way she knew how.

"I challenge you to a battle, kid!" she shouted. "Right now!"

Ash glanced over his shoulder. "No thanks, 'Ms. Nonaka'. I don't play with groupies."

"Groupies!" she snapped. "I am _not_ a groupie! There's no way I'd want to go out with a guy like you anyway! I'm a Tamer; I don't date little boys."

Ash seemed to perk up at hearing that. "A Tamer? You mean a Digimon tamer?"

"That's right! And I'm challenging you to a battle with my Digimon, right here and now." Rika reached into her backpack and pulled out the Duel Ark she found in her suite. "A battle with these."

Ash smiled mischievously, as he had when he battled Ritchie. "All right. I've been itching to try out my skills on one of you. Even if I have to battle someone as irritating as you."

"Irritating!?" Rika shouted. "I'll make you eat those words!" She slid the Duel Ark in place, activating it instantly. "Hurry up and put yours on, kid!" Several people eating in the area noticed the two players, and turned their chairs to get a good view of the action. This was sure to be a good fight.

Rika met Ash on the arena floor, just outside of the dining hall entrance. Ash reached into his bag and pulled out a personalized Duel Ark. His had a literal swarm of badges attached to the glove-portion of the device, and the Ark itself was black with red highlights.

Ash removed the glove on his left hand and replaced it with the Duel Ark. He then pulled out a deck of cards from his bag. "These cards have the battle data of all my pokemon that I've ever caught, and are updated instantaneously. This deck is filled with the best I have to offer." Ash slid the deck into place, and the Duel Ark lit up instantly. "I'm not much of a card player, but at least I can train my monsters better than any Tamer can."

Rika frowned. "Whatever. I just want to see if you and your Poke-friends are worth worrying about." She drew five cards from her deck, and the life points were set automatically. "Hurry up and draw."

  


** **Ash:** 4000 LP || **Rika:** 4000 LP **

  


Ash drew five cards and looked at them casually. He glanced up at Rika. "We'll just skip the preliminaries and go right to the main event." Ash set a card in his Active Slot, and a Pikachu appeared beside him. [1700/1500, SPD 25]

Rika placed a card as well, causing Renamon to appear. "I agree." [1700/1450, SPD 26]

"I guess that's sums it up," Rika said, smirking at the data on her Duel Ark. "My Digimon is equal to your Pokemon, and she hasn't even evolved yet."

"Don't be so sure," Ash warned. "Pikachu, go!" The rodent ran at Renamon full-speed, and Rika ordered the Digimon to follow suit. Renamon attacked, scoring some minor damage on Pikachu, and in turn the rodent bit her arm and dealt damage as well. They scuffled like this for a while, until Rika decided that it was time to take the battle up a notch.

"Time to show you the true power of a Digimon!" Rika slashed an option card that would surely clinch the match for her. "Blue Matrix! Digivolve!"

Renamon glowed with blue light, and her body transformed until she was no longer the same monster. Now she was a tall, humanoid creature dressed in flowing robes like a wizard. On her head was a headdress like those worn in feudal japan. She was Taomon, an Ultimate digimon with incredible power. [2650/2450, SPD 16]

Ash frowned. "Is that it? You looked so excited, I thought it would be something dangerous."

Rika was steaming now. "You won't be saying that when your rat is flattened! Taomon, send him to the next world!!" Taomon flew into the air, and called on her magical paintbrush to summon her Talisman Spell attack. A mystical symbol appeared in the air, and Taomon sent it at Pikachu to unleash its destructive magic.

"Agility!" Ash shouted. Pikachu phased out of sight, and the Talisman harmlessly hit the floor. "And attack Rika directly!!" Rika was stunned when Pikachu appeared right in her face, and made a cute 'Pika' noise before unleashing a full-force Tackle attack! Rika fell to the arena floor as the hologram's attack affected her and her Life Points.

  


** **Ash:** 4000 LP || **Rika:** 2300 LP **

  


Ash called Pikachu back, and calmly waited for the girl to stand. "That must have hurt. But that's what you get for having such a slow monster. It wasn't even fast enough to get in the way of the attack."

Rika managed to get to her feet, with some effort. She drew and slashed one of her new cards. "Ice Devimon!" A ghostly image of the demonic digimon hovered behind Taomon, giving her its power and adding its special abilities to her own. [Taomon == 3180/2940]

"Freeze the ground, now!" Taomon used the Frost Claw special attack she gained from Ice Devimon and froze the entire playing area with holographic ice. Pikachu slipped and slided, not being designed for battles on ice this slippery. Taomon simply hovered above, not worried about the icy field below.

"Now, give that Trainer a smack he won't forget!" Rika ordered. Taomon powered up her Talisman Spell again and sent the symbol at Ash directly. Pikachu reacted, since his Speed was easily high enough for him to intercede. Pikachu took the attack full-on, and the damage was dealt appropriately. Amazingly, Pikachu survived even though his health was a third what it should have been.

"That is one tough Pokemon," a spectator said. "He took an Ultimate's attack head-on, and he's still alive."

Ash looked sadly at his pokemon. It looked like it was in a lot of pain. He told himself to end the battle quickly, so that Pikachu could get a good rest. But first, he had to cut this Digimon princess down to size.

"Hyper Potion!" Ash shouted, slashing the card in question. Pikachu's health suddenly jumped to full, and he received a boost of energy that enabled him to keep on fighting despite his body's condition. He'd be exhausted and bruised later, but right now he was in peak fighting condition again. Ash took a card from his hand, entitled "Thunderbolt", and slashed it quickly. With this Attack at Pikachu's command, Taomon wouldn't stand a chance.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt and wipe out that overgrown dog!" Ash slashed two Electric Energy cards, boosting Pikachu's power even more. [Pikachu + 2 Energy == 2040/1920] Combined with the Thunderbolt's power, even the mighty Taomon felt its effects.

Rika couldn't believe it. _That attack almost knocked Taomon back down to Renamon! That Pikachu is something else._ She looked across the field at the rodent and its trainer. Both were intense and focused. _If he keeps powering up like this, not even Sakuyamon will be able to fight back. I have to do something quick... or I'll be the laughing stock of every Tamer on the ship._

"Pikachu, hit her again!" Ash ordered. Pikachu powered up his second Thunderbolt and aimed it at Taomon. This time though, Rika was prepared.

"Alias!!" Rika slashed the option card. Taomon was annihilated by the Thunderbolt attack, but the Alias card was enough to keep Renamon conscious at least. Taomon's destruction dealt some major damage to Rika's Life Points, but at least she had saved Renamon and put her into a prime location for an attack.

Ash whipped around, seeing Renamon right above him. "Whoa!"

"Renamon, Diamond Storm!!" Rika ordered. Renamon summoned a thousand tiny crystals and threw them down to earth. Ash's Pikachu was about to intercede, but Ash ordered it to stay back. The monster obeyed, though Rika swore she saw sadness in the creature's eyes as it watched Ash fall to the ground.

  


**** Ash: **2300 LP || **Rika:** 1585 LP **

  


Ash didn't have time to get up, as Renamon was about to unleash another Diamond Storm. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!!" Pikachu gladly leaped to Ash's defense and met Renamon in midair. Pikachu's Thunderbolt washed over Renamon's Diamond Storm, knocking the two monsters back as the shock waves pushed them aside. Renamon flipped to a standing position and returned to Rika's side, while Pikachu ran to stand before Ash. Both monsters were dirty and bruised from the tough battle, but neither was ready to give up just yet.

Rika smiled lightly. So did Ash. They were both having more fun than they expected. "I'm Rika, by the way. Rika Nonaka."

"I'm Ash," he replied. "Ash Ketchum." Rika nodded respectfully, and they both drew a couple cards to replace the ones they'd used in their latest exchange.

_Pikachu is still powered up by those two Energy cards,_ Rika noted. _According to this, he's used up all his Thunderbolts, but he's bound to have more Attack cards like that one. He may not be able to digivolve, but he can keep charging up his Pikachu to the point where I'm no match for it. I have to digivolve Renamon to her highest level._

Ash saw Rika look up, and resumed his orders. "Pikachu, Tackle Attack!" The monster raced towards Rika, but Renamon interceded and counterattacked. The two monsters ducked and dodged around each other, each trying to score a direct hit on the other. The melee gave each player some time to think.

_I don't have my Biomerge Digivolution yet, but..._ She held up the Kazemon card, her latest addition to her deck. _This card's effect says it can be used to Spirit Evolve a monster into an H-Type Digimon. _She then looked at Sakuyamon's card. _Like this one. _

Rika glanced up again, and saw Ash looking intently at his hand as well. Pikachu and Renamon fought fiercely between them, still trying to beat each other's reflexes. _Well... here goes._

Rika slashed her next card. "Kazemon!" A translucent image of the fairy on the card floated over Renamon, waiting for Rika to continue her play. "And I use her to Spirit Evolve my Renamon into her human form of Sakuyamon!"

"Huh...?" Ash breathed. Renamon was surrounded by pieces of what appeared to be another monster – a golden staff, a black suit, tons of jewelry, and a bestial mask. Renamon was enveloped by each piece, transforming into the shape of a human girl as she did so. Soon, Renamon was no longer there, but another Digimon was. Sakuyamon stood on the field, and let loose a ring of light that announced her presence to the world. [3500/3200, SPD 10]

Ash frowned. "Another slow monster... Guess I'll just have to attack you directly again. Pikachu, get her!" Pikachu did another Tackle attack, but as soon as he got close to Rika, a fox spirit flew from Sakuyamon's hand and blocked his attack. Pikachu bounced back to where he was before, unharmed but a little surprised.

Rika smirked. "She may be slower than the rat there, but she has magic. You'll never get by Sakuyamon that way!" Sakuyamon shot a bolt of magic at the rodent, making him hop to dodge the attack.

"She's so strong that we won't be able to counterattack," Ash realized. "Pikachu won't be able to hurt her unless I draw another TM. But I have to use a card to draw a card." Ash shrugged. "Guess I'd better just throw one out there."

Ash grabbed a card and slashed it roughly. "Love Ball! Try to capture Sakuyamon!" A pink pokeball appeared next to Pikachu, who picked it up with his nose like a dolphin playing with a beach ball.

Rika didn't know what he was doing, but she figured it wouldn't matter if Sakuyamon could destroy Pikachu first. "Sakuyamon, get him quick!" Sakuyamon swirled her staff and called upon her magic, ready to unleash her ultimate attack on the tiny rodent.

At that moment, Pikachu bounced the Pokeball high into the air and did a front flip, so that his tail whacked the ball as hard as possible. The Love Ball flew straight at Sakuyamon and hit her just above her knee. Sakuyamon was suddenly changed into red energy and dragged into the pokeball, which rumbled around as if fighting with the Digimon.

"What the hell!?" Did Sakuyamon just get sucked into a pokeball? But she wasn't even a Pokemon! It looked like the pokeball hadn't caught her yet, so Rika prayed that Sakuyamon could break free. Ash stood across the field, equally surprised at what was happening. He didn't expect the pokeball to do anything but bounce harmlessly off her body.

The red light on the pokeball disappeared. The pokeball stopped shaking, and it flew right to Ash. He caught it, and the instant it transformed into a holographic representation of a card. It was the Sakuyamon card.

"I... I just captured your Digimon!" Ash said, surprised as could be. "Cool!"

Rika looked at her Duel Ark, and saw that Sakuyamon's card was still there, overlapping Renamon's. At least the Capture wasn't permanent. Rika would not want to kick this guy's butt to get her card back. "You just got lucky! You may have captured her, but I can still beat you with one of my other monsters!" Rika discarded the useless cards in her Active Slot, and replaced them with a tiny Vilemon. Even though it was a Champion level Digimon, she could summon it as a defender without digivolving to it normally. She just couldn't attack with it. [2050/1650]

_If I can digivolve Vilemon to his next stage, then he won't be weakened anymore,_ Rika thought. _But I have to survive that rat's attacks until I draw one. _She drew two cards to replace Renamon and Sakuyamon, and didn't get any Digivolution-based cards. _These aren't what I needed... but at least they're some good Attack cards still._

Rika slashed the Defense Option card in her hand, which tweaked Vilemon's attributes to the point where he could protect Rika from almost anything... at least as long as the Option's effects lasted. Which was about 30 seconds. [Vilemon == 0/3700]

Ash considered his next move. Pikachu was strong, but he couldn't compete with that Vilemon while it was powered up like that. He could wait 30 seconds and then attack, but that wasn't the way a real trainer would do it. He was compelled to beat this monster fairly. Besides... he didn't want to give Rika a chance to use more cards on Vilemon. She was bound to draw another card she could use to digivolve her monster.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Ash ordered, slashing the appropriate Trainer card. Pikachu rushed across the field and slammed head-first into Vilemon. He hit hard, but he failed to get past the creature's defenses. Pikachu tried to go around him to get to Rika, but Vilemon interceded no matter which way Pikachu went. Ash drew a card, and got his Bayleef card. He didn't want to switch Pokemon, since Pikachu was already powered up so high. Plus, Pikachu and Ash had something to prove to this tamer. They weren't just kids playing around; they could defeat tamers by working together.

Pikachu continued his assault for 30 seconds, and Rika didn't like where this was going. She had a Harpymon in her hand, which might've been able to stand up to Pikachu's electrical attacks, but she didn't have a Digivolution card to play it with. She needed to attack; if she just defended the rest of the battle, she'd lose. She had no Options that could be used in this situation. She had no Rookies to play. She was running out of moves. When Vilemon's defensive power dropped to normal, Pikachu would destroy him and win the battle. And there wasn't anything Rika could do about it.

"Rika?" The girl looked up. "I'd say we're pretty evenly matched, wouldn't you?"

Rika nodded slowly. "...Yeah."

Ash smiled. He turned off his Duel Ark, causing his Pikachu to disappear. "Thanks. I'm glad you said that." He picked up his sports bag, much to the audience's dismay. A lot of them grumbled about Ash "chickening out", and several others were angry at not seeing the fight go to its conclusion. Ash either didn't hear them, or didn't care. He turned the corner, heading towards the suite area.

Rika quickly turned off her Duel Ark as well and ran after him. "Hey, wait!"

Ash turned around. "...What?"

"What do you mean 'What'! Why did you stop? You could have... won." Rika hated to say that, even though it was true. She despised losing, especially since she thought Pokemon was a child's game.

Ash shrugged. "We don't have any reason to fight. I mean... I apologized already. And I wasn't exactly annoyed when you were following me."

Rika looked amused. "What's that supposed to mean?" The trainer laughed lightly.

"I'll battle you any time you're ready," Ash said. "Just make sure your deck is prepared for Pokemon battles next time."

"...Right." Rika had a lot of work to do on her deck. Next time, she wouldn't be caught unprepared.

"Oh." Ash pointed out a room on the second floor, which was visible from their position on the ship's deck. "I'm in room 118, right there. Do you want to hang out some more? We can talk before we get to the island and start competing."

Rika's chest tightened. Did he just invite her to his room? Those things were just bedrooms... was he making a pass at her? She barely knew this guy; he might be a pervert.

Rika noticed Ash was waiting for her answer. He smiled at her. Maybe he knew what she was thinking. She clasped her hands behind her back, trying to wring the nervousness out of her body. She even started shuffling her feet. Rika barely knew this guy... and yet she was curious about him. And the girl in his picture. Besides – she figured she could kick his butt if he tried anything.

"...Sure," Rika said warily.

  


--

  


Rika wondered if this was such a good idea. They could have talked just as easily down in the cafeteria. But then again... she didn't want Henry or Takato to see her hanging around with a stranger, and she especially didn't want Jeri to see it. She could introduce them all later... but she wanted to find out if Ash was trustworthy herself.

"The girl in the picture was who I thought you were," Ash said as he checked the complimentary fridge for anything interesting. He found a six-pack of mineral water, and figured it was better than nothing, so he took one. "Want one?"

"No thanks." Rika clicked open Ash's Pokedex, which he said was used in the Pokemon game and doubled as a minicomputer. Ash had several pictures of the redheaded Misty, most of them with himself or another kid with dark skin. "These are friends of yours?"

"Yeah." Ash tilted the Pokedex so he could see it, and pointed out each person. "That's Brock, a guy who plays a Pokemon Breeder in our game. And Misty is a trainer of Water Pokemon. Both of them used to be gym leaders in the Kanto region."

"Kanto?"

"Yeah." Ash took a long drink of the water, which wasn't as bad as he thought. "Pokemon isn't just a virtual pet monster... thing. We have a whole sport built around it for monster battling. There are a bunch of different Cups you can win by participating in different Leagues and winning Badges from different cities all over the world. Kanto is the league region made up of China, Japan, Korea and some other places near them."

"And people play in these leagues all over the world?" Rika said, astonished. "But... I've never even heard of these leagues. I thought Pokemon was just a play-at-home thing."

"Well... its sort of an underground sport," Ash winked. He threw the empty bottle of water into the trash and grabbed another one from the fridge. "Holographic monsters aren't exactly normal toys for kids, and a lot of parents and teachers tried to stop Pokemon from being produced. Industrial Illusions used to mass produce them in public, but after a while they stopped advertising it. The only people who really know about it now are the ones who know the last generation of trainers."

"...And you know somebody like that?"

Ash nodded. "My dad was a trainer. Before he left my mother and me, he taught me about Pokemon and gave me his Pikachu to raise. After that, I traveled the world using his Pokemon Credit Card. You have unlimited travel expenses as long as you use certain airlines and transportation companies."

"That must be such a great experience," Rika wondered. "Being able to travel all over the world by yourself, competing in a sport that you love."

"Yeah... but it gets lonely sometimes," Ash muttered. "That's why I became friends with Misty and Brock so quickly. We all love Pokemon, but we didn't want to go out into the world by ourselves. So we stick together and help each other out."

"Are they here now?"

"...No." Ash sat in the cushioned chair, since Rika had the bed. "We were competing in the Johto region... America, basically. Misty was battling a trainer named Gary Oak, an old friend of mine. Gary was losing the match, and was running out of options. So he had his pokemon attack one of the supports on the bridge they were battling on. Misty fell into the water a long way..." Ash stopped talking as he tried to control himself. Rika wasn't sure if he was sad, or angry. 

"Misty ended up in the hospital. The doctors said that she was badly injured by the fall. She might lose the use of her legs. They had a procedure that could help her, but it was risky."

Ash sighed deeply, hoping to regain control of his emotions. "We got the invitation to Monster Duel EX around then. I wanted to stay with Misty until she was better, but she and Brock insisted I go to the tournament without them. We argued about it, but... Misty convinced me to go. She said she would meet me when the boat came back to the mainland. I promised her I'd win and bring her back the medal, or cup, or whatever we're going to get."

Rika remembered how he'd acted when he first noticed her. He must've been so excited to see her, thinking she was Misty. It really was wishful thinking, like he'd said. "I'm sorry. About what happened when we first met."

"It's okay." Ash smiled cheerfully. "Anyway, that's my story. How about you?"

Rika smirked. "I can't compete with a story like that. I'm just here to promote the tournament and the Digimon card game. So it's just for fun and money."

"You'll probably do well," Ash said. "You're really strong."

"...Thanks." Rika wondered what she'd do if it came down to her and Ash. Would she beat him, after hearing his story? _Could_ she beat him, after all the trouble she went through before?

"Hey Rika?" She shook herself from her thoughts. "Do you think I could ask you a favor?"

Rika started to tense up again. "I guess it depends."

Ash started twiddling his fingers nervously, which worried Rika even more. Here she was, lying on his bed, and alone with him in a bedroom. It was exactly what she was afraid of!

"Could you and I travel together?"

Rika blinked. "H-huh?"

"Well uh... I don't have my friends with me now. And I don't want to be alone. So, do you think we could travel together when we get to the island? At least for a little while?" He put his hands together and bowed his head. "Please?"

Rika gulped. "U-um... yeah. I wouldn't mind."

Ash looked up. "Really!?"

"R-really. It might be nice to team up for a little while." _What the hell am I saying? I don't need any help! But... it might be nice to hang out with him for a while longer._

"Alright!" Ash shook the stunned Rika's hand. "This'll be great!"

Rika regained some of her senses, and shook her hand free from his grasp. "Let's just get one thing straight! If you do anything disgusting or perverted, I'll beat you into a pulp and make sure you leave this tournament in a wheelchair! Got it?"

Ash wasn't sure where that came from, but he nodded anyway. "Okay, whatever you say."

"Because I know how you boys think! You get a girl all alone in the woods and think she'll just fall right into your arms!" Rika had another bad image and blamed Ash for it. "And if you try to peek at me while I'm bathing or something, I'll _really_ nail you!"

"Okay-okay!" Ash said, trying to shield himself from the verbal assault. "Just relax!"

Rika glared at Ash out of the corner of her eye. "I'm watching you, kid. Don't try anything funny."

Ash sighed. _Man... she even has Misty's attitude._

"Hey, there's the island!" Rika exclaimed. She rushed to the port window. "Look Ash!"

Ash walked over and squinted at the port hole. "... I don't see anything. Are you sure it's there?"

"We'll be there by morning," Rika affirmed. "And that's when the fun begins. Right?"

The trainer gave a thumbs up. "Right! Monster Island, here we come!"

  


--

  


The masked man walked to the massive computer terminal built into his personal chambers. He activated the device with the wave of his hand, and several communication codes were entered. Soon, the computer indicated that the desired link was established.

"Status report," Zero said firmly.

The voice of a duelBot responded. "THIS UNIT HAS DETECTED SEVERAL _Ka-Bearers_ IN THE AREA. THIS UNIT IS READY TO CAPTURE AND SEAL THESE KA IMMEDIATELY."

Zero chuckled. "You obviously haven't analyzed your targets enough. Their powers are as great as their skills. And if the Ka themselves are threatened, they will surely reveal themselves."

"THIS UNIT ONLY HAS BATTLE STATISTICS ON _Pharaoh Ka_."

"Exactly. That is why your primary directive is currently to study the targets and their abilities. You are also to remain inconspicuous. Kaiba and his kid brother know about your existence, but they do not know your mission, correct?"

"THAT IS CORRECT."

"Keep it that way. What is the status of your Shell Personality?"

"SHELL PERSONALITY IS UNAWARE OF MY MISSION."

"....Good. You are to study and analyze all your targets, and formulate battle strategies with the highest level of success. When the order is given, you will attack. Understood?"

"UNDERSTOOD. THIS UNIT WILL CONTINUE MISSION, AND WAIT FOR YOUR COMMAND."

Zero was about to break the connection, when something occurred to him. "...One more thing. If anyone other than a predescribed ally attempts to capture a Ka or their Bearer, or tries to stop you from achieving your mission, you are to eliminate them by whatever means necessary."

The duelBot paused as it collated and saved this new order. "UNDERSTOOD." The connection broke, and Zero returned to his table. There lay the deck he would be using to defend his Crystal Castle during the tournament. With this deck, he would be prepared for even the Pharaoh's power. And he would win the souls he needed to complete the Forbidden Ritual.

_Come to me, Yugi. Come to me, Ka Bearers. It is time that you all realize your destiny, by _my_ hand._

  



	4. Warrior! Henry versus Jeri?

  


Mokuba stared at the playing field as he waited for his opponent to make a move. It was one o' clock in the morning, but Mokuba couldn't sleep - he had too much on his mind. The S.S. Aqua was on its way to the island, and Mokuba's real job would start once they arrived. Zero's wish for the most advanced duelBot ever was granted after the Sakura animatron was upgraded. It was Mokuba's job to make sure she got through the tournament in one piece. But now, he was worried about what Zero had planned for her. He could have Sakura the duelBot if he wanted; Mokuba didn't want to lose Sakura the girl.

"*Beep*... Fairy's Rook, to C4." The computer had finally chosen its move. Mokuba was playing Capsule Monster Chess, or "Capumon" as it was named after the second edition release. Capumon was his favorite game, and one that few people knew how to play. It was another monster-based game created by Industrial Illusions, but it was made almost thirty years ago when the company was first started. Since that time, more games were made for the younger, action-minded generation. Mokuba loved quiet games, as opposed to Seto and his love for "extreme games". So naturally, Capumon was a game he enjoyed more than Duel Monsters. Playing the game helped clear his mind of distractions and helped him think clearly.

The fairy-type monster moved as Rooks normally did – in a straight line for as many spaces as the controller desired. The Rook moved three spaces until it was at the C4 square, then stopped. None of Mokuba's pieces were there, so there was no battle. That ended the computer's turn, and it was now Mokuba's turn to make a move. He looked at the holographic pieces and their placement on the board, and tried to figure out the best plan of attack.

"Dragon's Pawn attacks Rook." There was only one enemy Rook on the board, and only one of Mokuba's pawns that could legally make that attack, so the game translated the move immediately despite the lack of coordinates. Mokuba's dragon-shaped piece moved one space diagonally and attacked the Rook. A miniature melee ensued, which resulted in the Rook's destruction. Mokuba had been lucky this time – pawns rarely won battles against Rooks, due to the difference in power level. But since his gamble paid off, Mokuba was only a few moves away from destroying the Fairy's King controlled by the computer. Mokuba's opponent analyzed the situation, and Mokuba waited calmly for the machine's next move.

_I wish I knew what Zero was planning,_ Mokuba thought. _Seto agreed to modify Sakura and implant the Mini Cybers into all the Duel Arks, but he never told me why. Zero just shows up out of the blue, and he trusts him enough to make a deal that involves one of our most advanced machines to date?_ Mokuba hated to think of Sakura as a "machine", but he had to face facts. Sakura was created by one of Kaiba Corps' engineering teams as a way to replace the deceased daughter of a friend in Industrial Illusions, Mr. Kinomoto. It was later decided that Sakura's presence would only cause more harm than good to the man, so she was never revealed to Kinomoto. Sakura's life had been peaceful, until Kaiba suddenly ordered that she be upgraded into a duelBot. She was now the first and only Type III robot designed for dueling, and Zero was apparently the man who prompted her promotion. Mokuba wanted to know why, and he wasn't going to let Zero anywhere near Sakura until he knew the truth.

Mokuba's opponent ordered one of his Fairy's Wizards to move diagonally a few spaces, and then invoked the ability of his Queen to switch places with it. The Queen and Wizard switched positions, which put Mokuba's king in jeopardy and his other pieces at risk. It was now Mokuba's turn again.

_I agreed to work on the Duel Ark project, but only because Seto didn't trust anyone else to do it._ Mokuba ordered one of his Dragon's Pawns to move one space forward, putting it into the path of the enemy Queen and threatening her. He then activated the ability of his Dragon's Knight to destroy an enemy piece and the Knight itself. One of the computer's Knights was destroyed by the effect, and Mokuba's Knight followed suit. The computer started its turn.

_He says the Mini Cybers are for the safety of the participants, but there's no way that can be true. Seto was hurt even more by that other world than he was by Sakura's monsters._ Mokuba remembered how close his brother came to dying because of the damage he'd sustained in that other world, physically and mentally. It was a dangerous place for a human. _There must be something else going on. My brother and Zero are after something. And both Sakura and that other world are involved. But what could it be? And why hold this tournament using the Duel Arks when Seto is only a few months away from completing his Duel Disk II systems? And why drag all these kid's games into it? There's just so many questions... but only Zero and my brother know the answers. I have to find out what Seto knows. Sakura's life may be at risk._ Mokuba didn't notice the error in that statement. 

The computer's Queen attacked Mokuba's blocking pawn, and Mokuba activated its ability in response. The Dragon's Pawn was able to sacrifice all his other Pawns and combine their strength with its own for one turn. That gave the Dragon's Pawn more than enough power to destroy the enemy Queen. The computer was forced to end its turn, and Mokuba went in for the kill. He ordered his second Dragon's Knight to move in and attack, putting it into a position that the enemy could not defend against. The computer had no moves it could make to prevent the loss of his King, so it conceded. Mokuba won the match.

The computer congratulated Mokuba on the win, and deactivated. Mokuba didn't feel like playing another game, so he stepped off the pedestal and left the entertainment area for the upper deck. Only a few passengers were still awake. Most of them were testing their strategies by playing computer opponents in the various arenas above and below deck. Others were just too nervous to sleep. Mokuba ignored them, and continued walking until he reached the bow of the ship.

Standing there made Mokuba feel like he was flying, even if the ship was moving slowly. He stood as close to the bow as he could, and closed his eyes. He could feel the ship bobbing up and down, and the wind blowing past him. He extended his arms as if he were a bird, and let his imagination do the rest. He was flying freely, without a care in the world. His spirit was lifted, and his mind was cleared of all doubt. He knew what he would do.

_I don't care what they have planned,_ Mokuba declared. _If Zero hurts Sakura, he's dead. And Big Brother... I don't want to have to choose between you two. Don't make me choose._

Mokuba turned around, and was surprised to see Sakura standing there. She was still wearing the pink nightie she'd changed into before going to sleep. She looked quietly at Mokuba, concern on her pretty face.

"What are you doing up?" Mokuba asked. "You should be resting. And you're going to catch a cold that way."

"...I don't catch colds," she said. "And I was worried when you didn't come back." Sakura worried about Mokuba often. He was her only friend in the world. And Sakura seemed to value friendship more than anything else. She was a person of the Ultra Rare variety.

"Don't worry about me." Mokuba stepped towards her and took her hand. "I just have a lot on my mind. Like how I'm going to keep you out of trouble."

"_You're_ going to keep _me_ out of trouble? You're the one who steals people's cards, remember?" Mokuba glowered at being reminded of his Duelist Kingdom activities. He'd stolen a player's cards and star chips in order to face Yugi Muto in a duel, out of desperation. In the end, the chips were thrown into the sea by one of Pegasus' henchmen, and the cards were never returned. In fact, Mokuba had those very cards in his bag in case he needed to duel.

"Sakura, I don't want Zero to take you away."

The girl gently squeezed his hand as they walked. "I don't want him to either. But, it's your brother's decision. Not mine."

"My brother's making a bad decision!" Mokuba growled. "He knows nothing about Zero, and he starts working with him as if they were life-long partners! And this whole thing with Digital Worlds and Ark Fields is something we're not supposed to mess with! Seto is making a big mistake, and innocent people are going to pay for it! It's not fair!!" 

Sakura was silent. There wasn't much she could say to ease Mokuba's concerns.

When they reached their room, Sakura and Mokuba sat on the edge of the bed. Both were worried about the future, but there was little they could do to avert it. Zero was the controller of the tournament, and he seemed to be a powerful man despite his lack of publicity. Seto was owner of the richest and most influential entertainment company in the world, and he was a master strategist. He had the edge in the gaming world as well as the economic and political world. There was little that could prevent him from achieving his goals. In fact, there was only one person who could stop him.

"...Maybe there is something we can do," Mokuba realized.

"What do you mean?"

"There might be a way for us to keep Zero from taking you. If someone could beat my brother and Zero at their own game, then maybe we can force them to tell us what's going on."

"But Mokuba, why should we do anything?" Sakura asked. "There's no reason for you to think that Zero and Seto-sama have some sort of evil plan. Maybe they need me to do something that'll help people."

"I doubt it. After everything I've seen, I can't believe that this is all for a good cause. Zero is keeping himself hidden to protect himself. People with good intentions don't need to hide."

"Capu-kun." Mokuba went silent, and looked at her. "Please don't be this way."

"But, I ..."

"I know how you feel. But I don't want you to get into trouble because of me. And I am sure that Seto-sama isn't doing anything bad."

Mokuba remembered the events at Duelist Kingdom, and Kaiba's lifestyle before that. Seto was hellbent on defeating Yugi, no matter what the cost. And he was ruthless in his actions. Even if he had a reason to act the way he did, that didn't change the fact that he hurt a lot of people in his battles. Yugi said once that he had opened Kaiba's mind, freeing him of the lust for power that possessed him. But freeing him from the lust for power seemed only to fuel his lust for revenge. There was no telling what a person like that was capable of. 

"I wish I could be as sure as you, Sakura."

"I'm sure," she replied softly. "Because he's your brother. And I'm sure that deep down, he's just like you." Sakura crawled onto the bed and lay down. "So don't worry. Everything will turn out fine, I know it."

Mokuba frowned. _Even after the way Seto has treated you, you still believe that he's a good person._ The boy looked over his shoulder at the sleeping girl. She must've already gone into her recharge mode. _You have a strong heart, Sakura._

Mokuba left the bedside and found a place on the floor to rest. He used his backpack as a pillow, and let his mind drift as he waited for sleep to come. _But I'm still going to be prepared in case Seto and Zero are really up to something. There's only one person in the world who can keep Seto under control, and he's going to help me protect you._

  


--

  


** **Yugi:** 1200 LP || **Red** **Player:** 500 LP**

** **Blue Player 3:** 400 LP ||** Green** **Player 4: **1700 LP **

  


It was a close match, that was for sure. Little Yugi and the three computer players each had a high-level monster in play, with no power-ups in effect. Yugi had the Dark Magician [2500/2100, SPD 21]; the red player had Dark Master – Zork, a Duel Monster with deadly abilities [2700/1500, SPD 16]; the blue player had a Mega Digimon called Puppetmon [2900/2300, SPD 8]; the green player commanded a 99th level insect Pokemon called Yanma [2908/2014, SPD 35]. It was currently anyone's game. Yugi just had to be careful, in case the computers decided to gang up on him.

Puppetmon barreled out of the gate by drawing his pistol sidearm and blasting away at Zork, who had the lowest defense of all the monsters on the field. Zork's player countered by activating a trap card called "Shift Change", which switched the position of Zork with a random enemy. Yugi's Dark Magician was thrown into the line of fire, but Yugi fought back with his Dark Magician's dark magic. Dark Magician's cloak was perforated with bullet holes, but he managed to survive the assault. Puppetmon withstood the magician's counterattack, and the free-for-all continued.

Yanma tried to attack Yugi directly with Tackle. His Dark Magician was in a bad position after that Shift Change and could not defend his player from that distance. Yugi slashed the "Monster Replace" magic card, which removed the Dark Magician from play and placed another monster on the field in his stead. Yugi's "Wall of Illusion" appeared just as Yanma was about to tackle him. [1000/1850]

Wall of Illusion was destroyed by the creature's incredibly strong attack, and Yugi's life points were reduced appropriately. [Yugi's LP: 142] However, the Wall of Illusion's magic enchanted Yanma and trapped it inside an illusion. Now confused, Yanma attacked its controller – the Green player – and wiped out its remaining life points with a Sonic Boom attack. Green and his Yanma were eliminated from the match, and the remaining three players continued the battle.

Yugi re-played the Dark Magician as he analyzed the situation. Red and Blue were going at it, with Zork taking a beating at the hands of the digimon's superior attack power. Even though Zork was fast, the gun that Puppetmon attacked with was very difficult to dodge for a creature of his size. Zork's player decided to go for broke, and activated Zork's ultimate attack – the Scarab Swarm. With this attack, the demon summoned a horde of ravenous scarabs that attacked random targets on the field – even Zork. It was all up to luck whether or not Yugi's magician would be attacked. Yugi didn't like the odds, so he slashed his "Magical Hats" card to hide the Dark Magician and boost his chances of surviving the demonic assault.

Zork's bugs crawled towards the Puppetmon. However, his player was prepared to counter the attack. The computer activated an option card called "Crossfire", which reflected the attack at a random target on the field. The scarabs descended on one of the magical hats and devoured it in seconds. Luckily, it turned out to be an empty hat. The scarabs were satisfied with the snack and left the holographic playing field the same way they came – through Zork's body.

Yugi had three hats left. He slashed his Mirror Force and hid it underneath another hat, and kept the Dark Magician in his current hat. If the enemy attacked the hat hiding the Dark Magician, Yugi's life points would drop to zero. If they attacked the empty hat, then Yugi would be spared for a few seconds more. But if they attacked the Mirror Force hat, then the trap would activate and the attack would rip through all the enemy monsters. Yugi drew cards to refill his hand, and hoped that this plan worked in his favor.

Zork's and Puppetmon's players redirected their attacks at Yugi. They had the same thought at the same time, it seemed. Zork chanted his demonic spells, while Puppetmon aimed his gun at one of the hats. It was the hat hiding his Dark Magician! Just as the digimon fired, Yugi slashed his "Magnet Warrior Beta". The monster could not be summoned since Dark Magician was still on the field, but Yugi could use his magnetic powers to draw Puppetmon's bullet away from the field, along with his gun. Puppetmon's weapon was yanked from his grip and slammed into the Magnet Warrior's head with a loud *clang*. Puppetmon's attack was negated.

Zork completed his attack though, and launched his magic at another hat. This time, Yugi let the attack hit its target. The hat was destroyed, but the trap underneath was activated as a result. The Mirror Force collected the energy of Zork's attack and reflected it at both of the computer controlled beasts. Zork's attack incinerated both monsters, and the computer players' life points dropped to 0. Yugi was the last player standing.

  


** **Yugi:** 142 LP || **Red Player:** 0 LP || **Blue Player: **0 LP || **Green Player: **0 LP **

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief, and wiped the sweat off his face as the holographic arena deactivated. "Man, that was close. I can't believe I won that."

_"I knew you would,"_ Yami said from his seat in the audience. "_I have faith in your abilities." _As a spirit, he could move pretty far away from the Puzzle even though he was tied to it, as long as nothing was impairing his magic. It was a lot like the holographic monsters the Duel Arks made, Yugi realized. Technology was starting to catch up to magic. 

Yugi took a seat beside the spirit, and yawned loudly. "I guess it's good for me to practice. You're a great player, but there have been times in the past when you couldn't help me in a duel."

_"Yes. I don't know what we'll face on Monster Island, but trouble seems to follow us no matter where we are. We must be prepared for anything."_

Yugi leaned back, eyes closed but still awake. "Kaiba. I saw him board the boat just as we got to the docking area. He must be competing in this tournament."

_"...Perhaps. Kaiba is a strong opponent, but he is not our primary concern. We must find Juri's reincarnation and destroy Exodia, once and for all. Unfortunately, we must wait until the tournament starts. There are too many people in the vicinity for us to make our move."_

Yugi felt his hands trembling behind his neck. "We're not going to hurt her, are we?"

_"I don't know,"_ Yami said. _"All I know is that in order to defeat Exodia, we will have to eliminate its tie to his progenitor somehow."_

__"'Progenitor'?" Yugi mimed. It was another word for 'creator', but it sounded more like a person carrying a disease. "You make it sound like you're exterminating something instead of helping someone."

Yami was silent for a while. Yugi looked at him – at least, the illusion of him. "Promise me that you won't hurt her. Exodia is dangerous, but we can't kill someone just to stop him."

Yami glared at his other self. _"You must have learned by now, Yugi. I'll do what it takes to achieve our goals."_

Yugi remembered the duel against Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom, just outside of Pegasus' castle gates. In that duel, Yami was willing to go to any lengths to defeat Kaiba – even send him to his death. Yugi didn't want to hurt Kaiba, even if it meant giving up the chance to save his Grandpa. The battle reached its pique when Celtic Guardian was about to destroy the Ultimate Dragon and Kaiba's remaining life points. Yugi and Yami clashed, and in the end Yugi was forced to stop the spirit from winning the duel. Kaiba won, and Yugi became afraid of his spirit. But in the end, Yami promised that he would help Yugi save his grandfather, and not sacrifice the lives of others.

"So you're saying... that you won't kill her," Yugi repeated.

Yami went silent again. Yugi repeated the statement, and only then did the spirit answer. "_We must try to destroy Exodia. We cannot let him escape just because he's hiding inside an innocent girl."_

Yugi wasn't sure what to think. Yami sounded like he was intent on completing this mission, no matter what. If there was no other option, would Yami kill Exodia's host? Could Yugi stop the spirit, now that he'd grown stronger since the Duelist Kingdom and his battle with Pegasus?

_"Death would not be the answer,"_ Yami said. _"Juri and her spiritual descendants have all possessed this tie to Exodia. So killing her would not matter if she were to simply reincarnate again. The only way to really break the tie would be to seal Juri's soul. Then Exodia could be destroyed, and his link to the living would be forever gone."_

"You will NOT harm her!!" Yugi's shout echoed through the arena. Yami stared silently at the boy, while Yugi glared back with nothing but anger. "You will _not_ harm Juri in _any_ way! Do you understand!!"

Yami glared defiantly before turning away. _"...No promises."_ Yami faded from sight and returned to the coffin that was the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi was shaken by their conversation.

_Yami is not acting like himself,_ Yugi thought with worry. _He's acting more like... like Bakura's other self. _Yugi wondered if the puzzle's spirit was somehow changed when he wasn't looking, but he felt that was impossible. He could feel Yami's presence as clearly as he could sense his own existence. It was Yami within the puzzle. He was just darker than usual. Exodia must've frightened him more than he was letting on.

Yugi shook himself from his thoughts. "I can't worry about this. Not now. Exodia's destruction is important, especially if Duel Monster players will be at this tournament. Some of the players are bound to be like me... tied to magic and Ancient Egypt. One of them may be after Juri's reincarnation. And I have to keep them from using her to free Exodia."

Yugi could only hope that the King of Games wouldn't become one of his enemies in this tournament.

  


--

  


The boat arrived at the island at 4:03 AM, Sunday. There were several dozen harbors at different corners of the island. Yugi and Joey ended up at different harbors. Yugi's starting place would be the Southwest Point, one of the eight towns where the 400-some competitors would begin the tournament from. Southwest Point was designed like an ancient Mediterranean city, complete with citizens in the form of tanned sailors, bar maids, drunkards, and patrolling knights. For the most part, the population ignored the players as they left the boats. Some of the more immature guests tried to have some fun with the people, whom they thought were actors. They were quite surprised when the "actors" gave them a shove or knocked them down with a solid punch. A couple fights ensued, with the losers always being the guests. Nobody came out to stop the fights. No black-suited security guards in sight.

_"I do not sense any souls in these people,"_ Yami mentioned as Yugi walked past a seedy bar, complete with disgusting looking prostitutes. _"They must be mechanical, or holographic."_

_"These people aren't real?"_ Yugi replied. _"Amazing..." _The boy casually touched a wooden crate as he passed a blacksmith's shop. It felt solid, yet shimmered at his touch and felt smooth like a marble floor. "I think this entire city is holographic!"

"Watch who you're callin' holo-pathic, you little runt!" growled a drunken old man dressed in rags. "Or I'll tan yer hide!"

Yugi cringed. "S-sorry!" He ran to the other side of the street, where an old friend was talking with a holographic maiden before she walked away in a huff.

"Holographic or not, they act like they're real people. Except they don't know a handsome harpooner when they see one," Mako Tsunami murmured. "Though I must admit, this harbor town is a place I could get used to."

"What kind of weirdo makes an island full of holograms and puts 'em in weird cities?" said a Pokemon trainer, sitting on a nearby box.

"...Zero." Yugi imagined the man's masked face in his mind. "What kind of game are you playing?" Yugi continued through the town, silent and alone, waiting for the sun to rise and for the tournament to officially begin.

  


--

  


[North Point || 4:07 A.M.]

  


Henry walked into a bar called the Deadman's Hand. It was a place filled with card tables where cowboys, gunmen, and villainous townsfolk were gambling away their poker chips and playing the first real card game. Henry felt out of place here, since every man - and some of the women - had beards. If Henry wasn't uncomfortable enough, a lot of them were giving him disturbing stares, as if he were the main course in a lunch buffet. Henry maintained a calm exterior, using the techniques his grandfather taught him through martial arts. He casually walked to the bar and hopped onto an empty stool.

A pretty bar girl with blond curls smiled at him. "Hi there little man. What can I do ya for?"

"I'd like something to drink please," Henry replied casually. "Whatever is free. Preferably water, Miss."

"Belle," she replied. A predictable name, Henry noted. "And are you sure that's all you want? Most men come in here and ask for a strong woman or a strong drink."

"Yes, I'm sure," Henry said. "Thank you, ma'am."

Belle smiled toothily, showing her pearly white teeth. "Aww, ain't you just the sweet little thing? Calling me Ma'am and all!" She gave Henry's cheek a good squeeze before bouncing off to the water barrel to get his drink. Henry rubbed his aching face and quietly waited for his drink to arrive. He was starting to wonder if holographic water would taste like anything, when he got a sturdy tap on the shoulder.

"Hey, buddy," said someone from modern times. Henry looked over his shoulder into the eyes of a man in his twenties, with some of the ugliest facial features he'd ever seen. His only redeeming feature seemed to be that his black hair covered up a lot of his face when it fell the right way. "No babies allowed here. These seats are for Duelists only." He seemed to be referring to himself and the chuckling, grunting men behind him. Henry was outnumbered four to one.

"...I was sitting here first, Sir," Henry said respectfully. "And unless you're older than you act, or suffering some crippling leg cramp, I'm not going to move. Sorry."

The man grabbed Henry's collar, lifting him completely off the stool. "You think you're funny, little brat!? I'll break your damn neck if you'd rather play it that way!"

"Hey!" The man turned around, only to get a face-full of fist from a teenager with blond hair and an outrageous accent. Henry fell to his seat, while the benevolent teen stepped between him and the four men.

The ringleader stood up and wiped a splotch of blood off his lip. "Well... seems we have another kid whose too big for his britches. You wanna try that again now that my back's not turned, Blondie?"

Joey hunched over, ready to rumble. "I'll try it again! And maybe this time I'll hit your face hard enough to knock the Ugly out of ya!" He tackled the man and took him to the ground, and gave him a good solid punch to the face that knocked his head to the side. Joey didn't get to do much more than that, as he was punched in turn by one of the other goons. The remaining two goons kicked him off their boss and brawled for a few seconds before pinning Joey to the ground. The other patrons watched the spectacle with interest.

"Hey you bums!" Belle shouted. "There ain't no fighting in my bar, you hear! Take it outside!"

"Shut up!" the leader yelled. "Zero pays you to act like a waitress, not play security guard." The two goons holding Joey picked him up, and the third one went to help them hold the strong teen still. The leader started punching him in the gut in quick succession. He finished with a hard uppercut to Joey's jaw, causing his head to jerk back. Joey struggled to free himself, but he was no match for the three guys.

That's when Henry acted. "Hyah!" Henry made a quick kick at the back of the leader's knee, causing him to stumble into a kneeling position. Before he could figure out what was happening, Henry gave him a solid chop to the back of the head, knocking him out cold. The man would have a heck of a bruise on his neck later.

The three guys were distracted by the "runt's" surprising display of strength, giving Joey the opening he needed. He jerked his head back and head-butted the guy behind him, hard enough to break his nose. That guy let go, but Joey still wasn't free of the two original guys. They were reacting quicker than their cohorts.

"Hold him! I'll get the runt!" said one of them. The other locked Joey's arms and held him in place, careful to keep his head at an angle so that he couldn't head-butt him. The other guy charged at Henry, intent on overpowering him with his size and pummeling him when he had him pinned.

But Henry had been trained to handle such a basic attack. He rolled off the guy's side as he charged, giving him an opening where he could grab the guy's wrist. Henry then pulled the wrist in the same direction of the charge, causing the guy to fly forward and into the lower half of the bar. His head slammed into the wooden base, and he didn't get up.

Henry simply stared at the remaining guy. "Let him go." He didn't need to repeat himself. The guy quickly dropped the hold he had on Joey and raced for the hills. Joey dusted himself off and muttered a few curses after the guy left.

"Those were some nice moves, kid. You shoulda knocked those punks out the moment they started picking on ya."

"I used to do that," Henry said. "But I got suspended after doing that a few too many times. After a while I learned not to fight unless I had to."

"Guess that works for some people," the teen laughed and extended his hand. "Oh yeah, I'm Joey Wheeler, Duelist Extraordinaire."

Henry hesitated; he was a Duelist too. Could he trust him? He might have been one of the psychos that Rika warned him about. But if those four punks were the Duelist's brand of psychos, he had nothing to be afraid of. He slapped Joey's hand in greeting. "Henry."

"Sorry to jump in on ya like that, but I saw those guys messing with ya and I wanted to do something."

"Thanks for the help." Henry adjusted his collar as he took back his seat. Joey brushed some blood off his lip, but the bleeding wasn't going to stop that easily.

"Here, use this," Belle said, handing the teen a rag. "That was awfully brave of you, Mister. Helping out this nice boy like that against those four cock-toothed sod heads."

"Hey, forgedaboudit." Joey wiped away most of the blood, but he gave up on trying to stop the bleeding with the rag. "Do you think I could get some water? And maybe a band-aid or two?"

Belle grabbed another glass and filled it with water quickly. She seemed anxious to serve Joey. "The water I can do, but I dunno what the heck a band-aid is. All I got's the rag and Doc Mitchell's advice."

Henry frowned. "No band-aids? Wow... when they make a setting, they really make a setting."

"What's that?" Belle asked, apparently missing the last half of his sentence.

"Nothing." Henry drank his water. Joey did the same and leaned his back against the bar. The teen finished the water in one draw and placed the cup on the table upside-down out of habit.

"Well, I guess I'd better get going," Joey said. "Still an hour 'til the tournament starts, and I don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do."

Henry looked up from his drink. "Didn't you get a Rule Book in your room? I thought everyone did."

Joey laughed nervously. "I uh... misplaced mine. Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean." Belle giggled at Henry's resulting expression.

"Here, I'll lend you mine." Henry reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded packet. He handed it to Joey, who unfolded it and read the title page.

"Monster Duel EX: Official Rule Book. This copy belongs to Henry Wong." Joey flipped through the next few pages, which discussed the basic rules of conduct. Joey had already broken those, and didn't care about the rest of them. He found the section he was interested in – Tournament Victory and Prizes.

"This tournament's victory conditions and prizes have been kept secret for some time, in order to prevent cheating or leaks to reporters. The winner of Monster Duel EX will be the first player to walk to the end of Star Road inside Zero Muto's..." Joey scratched his head. "Whoa, his last name is the same as Yugi's. Freaky. I met a guy named Wheeler Joe once, and I think he was..."

"Anyway," Henry muttered, before sipping his drink some more.

Joey frowned. "Right. No small conversation, got it." He scanned the page and found where he left off. "...the end of Star Road inside Zero Muto's Crystal Castle at the center of the island. The castle's outer defenses can only be breached by retrieving four Crests from four of the island's Dungeons, and solving the riddle that keeps the castle gates locked."

"Which isn't described in the booklet," Henry added. "And it doesn't mention the castle's inner defenses either. Skip down a paragraph."

Joey did so, and continued reading. "To the winner of the tournament will go this entire island, and... WHAT!! The whole island!!?" Joey's heart raced. "That's gotta be worth a fortune! This place is huge!"

"That's not all. Keep reading."

Joey struggled to keep breathing. "And... the winner also gets... all monetary, property, and business-based assets under the name of Zero Muto, totaling just over 90 billion dollars in US currency." Joey blinked, and tried to count in his head. "Isn't US money like a millionth of ours?"

"...One dollar is about 150 Yen, Joey," Henry said, somewhat surprised at the teen's lack of intelligence. "So everything Zero owns, minus the island, is worth about 13 and a half trillion Yen."

Joey froze. "Tri... tri... _trillion_? Are you _serious_!?"

"It's a Willy Wonka prize. If you win the tournament, everything that belongs to Zero becomes yours." Henry finished his water. "Assuming he's telling the truth. Which I doubt. Nobody gives away a fortune just for winning a tournament."

Joey seemed on the verge of a heart attack, and he was drooling like a puppy dog. "13 trillion Yen... I... I think I'm going to die right here. Somebody pinch me."

Belle jumped at the chance. "Come 'ere, dawgy!" Joey saved himself from Belle's pouncing just in time, much to her dismay.

"There's a few catches," Henry said, standing up. "Only the first place winner gets the prize. Everyone else gets nothing – not even a parting gift. And only four people will be able to enter the Castle before it's sealed again. After that, only they will have a chance to win the prize."

"Four people, eh?" Joey re-read the page, again and again. "Wait, this thing says we just have to get to the end. Don't we have to duel Zero to win?"

"No. He's just the tournament liaison. And the source of the prize, if it's for real. The main way to win is to be one of the four people who get into the Castle, then beat the other three before they find the Star Road." Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out a 500-Yen coin. "Is this enough for the water?"

Belle winked. "Oh, it's on me Sugar. Don't worry 'bout it."

Henry bowed politely. "Thank you very much. Bye!" He waved to Belle and walked out. "See you later, Joey. I have to find out who my camera guy is."

"Hey, wait up!" Joey ran after the boy, booklet in hand. "You gotta tell me the rest of the rules~!" Henry sighed. He'd picked up a new friend, whether he wanted to or not.

  


--

  


[Sunrise...]

  


Joey watched the sun peek over the mountains on the eastern side of the island. The sun's rise was the signal for the tournament to begin. And since a major part of this tournament's battle system involved the environment you fought on, Joey had to find a place that would work well with his Warrior monsters. And that meant exploring the places around North Point before he ran into some with a deck at a Level above his own. "Alright! I'm ready! How 'bout you?"

Henry stared uneasily at a flying Tentomon holding a video camera. It was holographic like the rest of the town's inhabitants, but it was surprisingly life-like... and had a bizarre personality to boot. "I don't think I'm going to get used to this."

"Come on, don't be that way!" the digimon insect buzzed. "Now show me some love! The world is watching you!" He zoomed left and right, trying to get the perfect angle with his camera. Henry just stared in utter amazement at the creature.

"I don't think anyone can get used to that." Joey checked his Duel Ark one last time, and activated its mapping function with the touch of a button. An image appeared in front of him, and he studied it carefully. It was a simple, unmarked map of Monster Island in its entirety. The only marked part of the map was North Point, which Joey highlighted by pushing that spot on the holographic map. The map zoomed in, and North Point's locations were displayed and named. A "You Are Here" marker appeared at the edge of the town map.

"Hey, there I am!" Joey snickered. "Man, I love this techno-stuff. Now all I need is for it to make peanut butter sandwiches, and I'm set for life!"

"No offense Joey, but do we have to travel together?" Henry asked. "I'd rather work alone."

Joey sweatdropped. "Listen kid. I promise I'll go my own way once I'm sure I have the rules down pat. I really don't wanna screw this up. There's 13 trillion Yen waiting for me."

"Wonderful, a match made in heaven!" Tentomon cheered, zooming with his wings and his camera lens. "Duelist and Tamer, working as one for the ultimate prize! We can do a human interest story with this!"

A vein bulged on Henry's forehead. "I wonder how many Hit Points you have, Tentomon." He reached for a card in his Duel Ark.

"Sorry, but I'm IN-VIN-CIBLE!" the bug cheered. "I will record your adventures until the very end! MWA-HA-HA-HA!"

Henry gave up. He'd just have to get used to the irritating creature. "I guess we'd better get going. The tournament's starting, and people are going to be looking for the nearest Dungeon."

"Right. Let's get going!" Joey marched down the dirt road leading out of town, with Henry following slowly. Tentomon hovered around the boy, spouting all kinds of dramatic nonsense about "our heroes' journey beginning".

Joey glanced down at his Duel Ark, curious about its abilities. "Hey Henry? You think these things will work even if we're not fighting?"

That was a good question, Henry noted. "I... don't know. Maybe we should test it."

"Good!" Joey pulled a card from the middle of his deck and read its name out loud. "Red Eyes Black Dragon!" He placed the card in the Active Slot, and the Duel Ark did the rest. An image of Red Eyes's card appeared, then from the card appeared the monster itself, in full 3D. The creature walked beside Joey, stomping along as if it did this every day.

Joey was giddy at his Red Eyes' appearance. "This is so awesome! I've got a pet dragon!" His dragon snorted, kicking up dirt on the road.

Henry frowned. "So it does work. Maybe... I can do that too." He pulled his deck from his Duel Ark, and sifted through the cards until he found the one he wanted. He slid Terriermon's card into the appropriate slot, and replaced his deck. Terriermon walked next to his player, and Tentomon recorded the scene eagerly.

"...Terriermon?" Henry whispered. The digimon looked up, but his expression had no spark of life. He was like a robot, awaiting its next order. "Can you speak?" Terriermon shook his head. He growled like a chihuahua, revealing to Henry the only sounds he could make. The player frowned in disappointment.

"Can you think?"

The digimon nodded. Henry's Duel Ark revealed the Battle Strategy menu, where a player could input suggested plan's of action into their monsters for later use. It was a round-a-bout way of saying that Terriermon could think because of his Battle AI. His mind was designed for fighting.

Henry sighed. "Then... you probably don't know who I am, do you." The digimon nodded in agreement.

Joey was staring oddly at the scene. "Dude. You know these cards ain't real, don't ya?"

Henry sighed. "I guess you don't know who I used to be."

"Should I?" Joey's dragon snorted at a passing chipmunk. The animal fainted at the sight of the massive dragon. "Are you famous?"

"I'm one of the Digimon Tamers," Henry explained. "A few months ago, we were just players of the card game like everyone else. Then we became involved with a secret organization called Hypnos and another world filled with real monsters. I became the tamer of a real Terriermon."

"Real monsters?" Joey murmured. He remembered how Yugi became involved with Pegasus. After that, Duel Monsters wasn't just a game anymore. Those monsters could become real too.

"Terriermon was forced to go back home after we faced the D-Reaper. You had to have heard about it. It came this close to destroying the entire human race."

"D-Reaper?" Joey tried to remember. "Oh yeah... I remember that thing. It made all that purple goop go into the streets and screw up all the machines in the city. I was with my sister at the time. We couldn't leave the house for hours."

"My friends and I helped defeat it." Henry looked at the holographic Terriermon. It was ignoring the conversation just like the Red Eyes was. "But we lost our best friends as a result. Access to the Digital World is now controlled and restricted by Hypnos, and the program we installed with the Red Card."

Joey didn't understand what all that meant, but he figured it was something he shouldn't ask about. "I don't watch the news, so I guess I never heard about you or your friends."

Tentomon snickered. "Oh, this is great stuff. Government organizations and other worlds!"

Henry balked; he'd forgotten that he was being recorded. "Hey, can't you edit that out? Those are sort of secret."

"Sort of? Doesn't sound like you're sure."

"They used to be secret," Henry explained. "I'm not sure if they are now."

"Secret or not, the world already saw it! We're live, Henry-boy!"

Henry sighed. "...Great." He waved at the camera. "Hi Suzy. Your big brother's an idiot."

Joey leaped at Henry, giving the boy's neck a bear hug as he flashed a "V for Victory" sign at the camera. "Hiya Sis! Joey's on TV! And I'm going to win 13 trillion Yen! And if any of you ladies out there would like to be my wife, please send your name, age, and phone number to Joey Wheeler by express mail!"

Tentomon frowned as his camera light went off. "Oops. Looks like they transferred to another camera. Pooh."

Henry breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he would be on camera the entire time he was on the island. "I guess you can take a break until the next time the camera comes on."

"I'll be watching you guys," Tentomon said. "In the meantime, good luck! And try to be more dramatic! Go find a girl to swoon over or something!" Tentomon disappeared into Henry's Duel Ark, leaving the two humans and their monsters alone on the dirt road.

Some time passed as Joey and Henry explored the region. They traveled the dirt road for an hour or so, until they came to a vast meadow that their Arks identified as the Sunny Vale. The meadow had no trees or buildings to obstruct the noon sun, while explained its name. It was a bright, beautiful day and the perfect setting to enjoy a picnic in. It also happened to be the best place for Warrior-type monsters to battle in.

"Let's look around here," Henry said. "If we can find another player, we can beat them in a battle and win a copy of their map."

"Or we could find one of them Dungeon places here too." Joey stretched his back and yawned. "Or we could find a good place to nap."

Henry groaned. "You'll never win the prize by napping."

Joey shook his head, getting rid of the sleepiness there. "You're right! I have to hang tough and kick some butt! Otherwise I'll never get into the final area!" Joey pointed towards the center of the Vale. "Red Eyes, fly up high and look for some people or some buildings!"

The dragon leaped into the air and flew higher with some effort. Joey ran into the Vale, keeping an eye on his dragon. Henry wondered how Joey could be so lazy one moment, then so determined the next, and so dumb the rest of the time. He was like an older Takato.

"Just my luck I'd get paired with a teenage goggle boy," Henry mused. "While he's doing that, I think I'll check on Suzy." Henry reached for his cell phone, when he heard what sounded like a girl crying. It was coming from the road nearby. He told Terriermon to follow, and they walked to the road to check it out.

Jeri was sitting on a rock, crying into her hands. She was cradling what appeared to be a Calumon. It looked like the digimon had been through a battle, because his body was covered in cuts and bruises. Henry made no move to approach her.

Jeri looked up, tears still in her eyes. "Henry... oh, I'm so glad you're here. I can't find Takato. And another player attacked me and tried to hurt me. And... and..." She returned to her sobbing.

Henry crossed his arms. "You shouldn't have put a Duel Ark on then."

Jeri stopped crying. She was shocked at his callousness. "But... it looked so real. Calumon... he looks just like my old Calumon." Jeri stared down at the lifeless creature, and held it close to her heart. "I want my Takato. I don't want to be by myself."

Henry slowly drew cards from the top of his deck. "And I'm guessing you want me to take you someplace safe, like some spot you saw in the forest or whatever."

Jeri was petrified by his behavior. "Henry..."

"Don't bother." Henry drew four cards to go with his Terriermon, completing his starting hand. "You goofed on the whole Jeri Katou act. She never treated Calumon as "her" Calumon. But everyone whose seen the news about the Tamers thought that Calumon was her partner. Obviously, you made the same error."

Jeri glowered. "...*@&#. And I went to so much trouble, too. I knew her mannerisms like the back of my hand." Jeri stood up, and the unconscious Calumon opened its eyes with ease. "Oh well. I guess I'll have to do this quickly, before that other kid comes back and ruins my ambush." Jeri tossed the Calumon into the air, and its features melted like jelly just before it splashed to the ground. The puddle of jelly pulled itself together, becoming a small and purple mass of goo, with two black dots for eyes.

"Is that... a Ditto?" Henry said, surprised. "That's a Pokemon!"

'Jeri' greeted Henry's shock with a disturbing grin. "I am a Ditto trainer. I'm a master of disguise, and above all I'm a master of turning my opponent's powers against them. And, I've been practicing at becoming a master of ruining other people's reputations!"

"What?" Henry wasn't sure what she meant, but it was apparent she wanted to battle. She drew four cards to go with Ditto, and the Duel Arks activated their Life Point counters automatically. Only this time, the readout was different.

  


** **Ditto's HP: **3664 || **Terriermon's HP:** 2000 **

  


--

  


**[Game Note -- "Partner Battles":** Several styles of battling are supported in Monster Duel EX. For Partner Battles, each player starts the match with their "Partner Card" already in play. The battle is fought until one Partner Card's hit points are reduced to 0, or the Partner Card is permanently removed from play. The winner of a Partner Battle has the right to take the loser's Partner Card as a prize.**]**

  


**[Terriermon:** ATK 1750 , DEF 1150 , SPD 42.**]**

**[Duplica Imite's Ditto:** ATK 1677 , DEF 1677, SPD 17. Special Effect – _Transform_.**]**

  


--

  


"Let's get the play under way," the fake Jeri said. On cue, the Tentomon camera-bug appeared and started filming the match. The match would be seen by the entire world. Just as the camera activated, Jeri slashed a card and transformed her Ditto into a cute mouse digimon called Chuumon. [1550 / 950, SPD 40]

"H-Henry, I'll teach you for touching my privates like that!" the fake Jeri shouted, using Jeri's trembling voice. "And I don't care how scary you are! I'll find out what you did to my Takato!"

"What the heck are you talking about!?" Henry snapped. "Quit pretending to be Jeri, you psycho!"

"Oh, this is good!" Tentomon cheered. "Henry Wong and Jeri Katou, going at it in the first official Partner Battle of the tournament! Will Henry lose his prized Terriermon, or will Jeri have to part ways with her rare Chuumon card? We'll just have to wait and see, folks!"

_Jeri's registered in the tournament?_ Henry didn't know that Jeri was going to battle. He thought she was just coming along to watch and promote. Then again, Henry was pretty sure that the Tentomon was just assuming that Jeri was a competitor. He thought Jeri's partner was Chuumon, when this girl's partner was actually Ditto. Tentomon was as fallible as a real person was. But that was bad for Henry – Tentomon's attempts to spice up the battle would only help this girl make him look bad.

"I hope this works," the fake Jeri said without confidence. She clumsily slashed a card. "Digivolution! Chuumon, digivolve to Doggymon!"

Henry couldn't just let her get away with it, but right now he had no choice. If he wanted to stay in the tournament, he'd need Terriermon. He had to fight back, and worry about preserving his reputation once he was in control of the field. "Terriermon, attack!"

Terriermon's mouth opened wide as a globe of focused energy erupted from it. His 'Bunny Blast' attack slammed into the digivolving monster, only to have no effect on the stronger Doggymon. [2300 / 1750, SPD 13]

Doggymon rushed forward and chomped at Terriermon, who nimbly dodged the attack. Terriermon jumped onto the creature's back and used another Bunny Blast at point-blank range, but all it succeeded in doing was knock Terriermon off the creature. Doggymon pounced at the other digimon, but against Terriermon was too fast. The two monsters chased each other around the field, but there was little either of them could do. Terriermon was way too fast, and Doggymon's defense was way too high.

"You're going to be in big trouble when I tell my daddy what you did to me!" the fake Jeri shouted. Obviously, the camera got every word of it. "And Takato is going to be mad too!"

Henry decided it was best not to respond for now. This girl said she'd been practicing for this, so she could probably turn anything he said against him. For now, he just had to fight and find a way to prove that she was a liar. He slashed one of the cards in his hand and prepared for his counterattack. "Accessory Pack Omega!"

A Terriermon-sized armor suit encased the little digimon to protect him, and he was even given a laser gun to power up his attack. [== 2275 / 1495] Henry ordered the digimon to blast Doggymon, but the fake Jeri had a card waiting.

"This one!" she shouted as she slashed. Then, she realized she said it wrong and revealed it to be "Firewall". The laser attack was blocked by an invisible data barrier. Henry knew she was faking it. She was trying to look inexperienced, since you'd expect a girl like Jeri to be inexperienced. Tentomon, of course, was eating it up.

"Aaa-mazing folks! Jeri is giving it her all against Henry and his Terrier of Terror! Its beauty versus the beast in an all-out struggle for victory!"

Henry sweatdropped. Tentomon didn't seem to care about his supposed assault on Jeri's body. He was just programmed to record the battle and try to make it more exciting for the viewers back home. Henry was sure his parents didn't believe the accusations, but Jeri's father was another story. Takato claimed that man had anger problems when it came to boys and his daughter.

But now was not the time to worry about that. Henry had to reveal this girl for the faker she was. And the key to doing that might be in her deck. 

Henry briskly slashed an Option card. "Data Search! Bring Leomon to her hand!" The card activated the Auto-Shuffler program in the fake Jeri's Duel Ark, but the deck wasn't manipulated in the slightest. Henry's Ark displayed a simple message, and the card's effect ended.

"...There's no Leomon card in your deck," Henry said. "Surprising, seeing as how that's your favorite card and all."

This caught the fake Jeri off guard. As Henry had pointed out before, Calumon was not Jeri's favorite digimon or her Partner card. What the fake Jeri didn't know was that Leomon was the digimon that Jeri truly loved. Henry had purposefully pointed out to her that Leomon should be in the real Jeri's deck. Now she'd have to bluff her way through explaining why it wasn't.

"I just decided not to bring him with me!" she said quickly. "I've gotten better cards!"

Henry snickered. "Really? And I always thought you loved that Leomon card more than anything. The real Jeri Katou always has Leomon's card with her, even when she's not playing the game."

The fake Jeri was silent. She still couldn't comprehend why the real Jeri would love a Leomon card so much. Henry decided to enlighten her. "Leomon was your Partner before he died. Remember?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh... um... that is... of course I know that! But that's not important right now! The fact that you touched me and took Takato is more important than some silly card!"

"Tell me... how _did_ Leomon die?" Henry asked. "I'm sure you remember. It was a really painful moment for you."

"Quit changing the subject!" the fake Jeri shouted again. She was starting to forget herself and yell in an uncharacteristic manner. Perfect.

"Come on, you can answer it. If you tell me how he died, then I'll give up the battle and go quietly to the authorities, or whatever." Henry smiled lightly. "But if you get it wrong, you have to admit that you're lying. Just because you look and sound like Jeri, doesn't mean you _are_ Jeri. Jeri is my friend and I'd never hurt her! And as much as I hate to say it, the real Jeri would never attack me even if I'd done something horrible to her. She's not a violent person. That's what caused all the trouble with the D-Reaper in the first place."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she said. "I know who I am, and I know how I act! You did bad things to me and took Takato too, and I'll do anything to get him back!"

"Just answer the question," Henry pressured her. "Or accept the fact that you're a liar."

The fake Jeri dropped the Firewall and went on the offensive. Her face was filled with rage; she knew she'd been beaten. "Attack you worthless digimon!!" Doggymon pounced on Terriermon, who again dodged the attack and fired away with his laser gun. Doggymon fell back as he was damaged by the attack and had the wind knocked out of him. [**Ditto's HP:** 3664 == 3139]

Doggymon's image shimmered, becoming a different color for a brief second as Ditto's control over its form wavered. Tentomon caught this on camera, and was shocked by it. "Wowzers! That Digimon must be berry-flavored, because I swear it just turned purple!"

"That's not a Digimon!" Henry shouted. "That's a Ditto! And she's not Jeri Katou!"

The fake Jeri growled. If Henry hadn't mentioned the name Ditto, she could have bluffed her way through the color change. Now it was only a matter of time before the audience realized the truth. She failed to black-mark the boy, but maybe she could still beat him on national television and reveal those Tamers for the fakers they were.

"You Tamers are a farce!" the girl shouted. "And I, Duplica Imite, am going to prove it! Ditto, transform!!" Ditto changed shape, dropping its form of a Doggymon to become a Terriermon like Henry's! The only difference was that her Terriermon had Ditto's beady eyes, as opposed to the real Terriermon's chocolate-shaped ones.

"Ditto, power up!!" Duplica ordered. She slashed a Super Energy card, which dramatically increased the power of her fake Terriermon! [== 2450 / 1610] 

Duplica's monster attacked Henry's Terriermon with a Bunny Blast, and scored a direct hit that shattered the Omega armor protecting him! Terriermon's hit points dropped from 2000 to 1045, and Henry was worried for the first time that he might lose this battle. He had to take Terriermon's power to the next level to have any hope of beating Ditto.

Henry slashed a Digivolution card, and Terriermon digivolved into his Champion form. The tiny, big-eared dog became as tall as a man and twice as wide. He acquired two gun-arms for weapons, and a pair of blue jeans for clothes. Along with the physical change, his digimon's power increased as well. Terriermon was now Gargomon. [2150 / 1950, SPD 28]

_Gargomon is still weaker than Ditto!_ Henry realized with a shock. _And Ditto is much faster than him too!_ Duplica grinned from ear-to-ear, as she realized the same thing.

"Ditto, use Bunny Blaster! Rapid fire him to death!!" Her Terriermon clone fired a quick series of green energy blasts from its mouth, each one slamming into Gargomon full force. Henry had to dive out of the way as Gargomon flew backwards from the sheer force of Ditto's attack. The Champion was down, and he wasn't bouncing back up. That attack had really been tough. [**T's HP:** 1045 == 45]

"I told you!" Duplica shouted to the camera. "Those kids from Shinjuku are nothing but a pack of liars! The D-Reaper was beaten by Pokemon Trainers, NOT by some wannabes! And soon the entire world will give us Trainers the respect we deserve!"

Henry stood up and tried to figure out what to do. Duplica would resume her attack the moment her Ditto regained its energy. He had to act fast. With the press of a button, he dedigivolved his Gargomon into a Terriermon again.

Duplica smiled prettily. That was only because Jeri's smile was pretty, even on the face of a girl like Duplica. "You giving up, hot shot?"

"No. I'm just going to see if you'll flap your mouth when you're fighting a Mega." Henry revealed his Warp Digivolution card, and slashed it with all his might.

Terriermon faded away into his card form, which floated higher into the air as the ground started to rumble. Terriermon's card cracked as something of awesome power awoke within it. In seconds, the holographic card image erupted and released a massive mecha that had too many armaments to count. Mega Gargomon landed firmly on the field, and stared down at the incredibly tiny Terriermon at his feet. Ditto sweatdropped, and ran behind its player. Duplica would have ordered it to stop that, but she was too busy staring at the huge robot dog in front of her. [3300 / 3300, SPD 12]

"...Okay, now where were we." Henry focused his eyes on the Ditto cowering behind Duplica. "Oh yeah, that's right. I was about to offer you a chance to give up."

"No way!" Duplica growled back. "Ditto, transform! Become Mega Gargomon!"

Henry balked as the pokemon expanded at an incredible rate. The Terriermon form stretched and morphed until it ripped away like paper. Ditto became a copy of Mega Gargomon, with black armor instead of green. The transformation forced Ditto to lose his Super Energy, meaning that the two monsters were equal in power and speed.

"Mega Gargomon, attack!!" Henry shouted. Duplica made the same order to Ditto. Ditto pounded away at Mega Gargomon, forcing him back until it kicked him into a tree. The tree bent and shattered under the force of the hologram.

Mega Gargomon counterattacked by revealing several dozen missile ports, and unleashing a storm of missiles that slammed into Ditto and knocked it to the ground. Duplica and Henry barely made it off the road in time to avoid being smooshed. Neither of them knew whether or not the holograms could actually kill them, but they did know that the holograms were snapping trees in half. So it was better to assume that they could. There were no safety systems when it came to Kaiba Corp technologies.

_They have equal ATK and DEF ratings, so this'll just keep going on forever unless we start slashing cards,_ Henry thought. _But she's sure to have more tricks up her sleeve. She might be waiting for me to use a card on Mega Gargomon. _Henry looked across the field at Duplica, who gave him a snotty glare in return. _I'd better risk it._

** Card Slash Sequence **

"Modify!! Aether Wings, activate!!"

Duplica and Tentomon watched in awe as Mega Gargomon underwent a startling transformation. His bulky green armor was replaced by sleek, white, and almost organic armor. His comical dog face was changed into a white-furred greyhound muzzle, designed to look like an ancient animal god. A pair of white wings appeared from the digimon's back. Feathers swirled around Henry and Duplica as the transformation was completed.

"Let's see if your Ditto can copy that," Henry challenged. [**Saint Gargomon: **3800 / 3500]

"Ditto, transform!" Duplica ordered quickly. The Ditto tried to copy the new form, but failed to copy the new form. Duplica told it to try again, but again it failed. "I... I don't understand! What did you do to my baby!"

"Nothing. Ditto just can't copy a monster if they didn't change by evolving," Henry informed her. "Mega Gargomon didn't digivolve – his hidden power was simply revealed by the Aether Wings card. And your Ditto's special abilities can't simulate the effects of that card. So you can't copy Saint Gargomon's powers."

Duplica growled. "FINE! Then I'll just wipe out your damn monster with the power of Pokemon! Super Energy, activate!!" Duplica slashed another Super Energy card, powering up her Ditto to epic proportions. [== ATK 4620 / DEF 4620] "ATTACK!!"

Ditto unleashed all his missiles on the enemy monster, burying it under a storm of explosions. When the smoke cleared, Saint Gargomon was still floating there. Duplica couldn't believe it. There wasn't even a scratch on him... even though his Defense was too low to block the attack. "That's impossible..."

"Saint Rune," Henry said calmly. Saint Gargomon held up his hand, and a port opened in his palm. The sound of a weapon activating could be heard, and a beam of white hot light erupted from the digimon's hand. The beam cut through Mega Gargomon's armor like it was butter, and incinerated the massive mecha. Ditto fell to the earth in his normal form, unconscious and defeated. [**Ditto's HP:** 0]

Duplica couldn't believe what just happened. It all happened so fast. How could he have defeated her so easily? "No..."

"Now, admit it." Henry said. He looked irritated, which scared Duplica. Was he going to punish her? "Admit that you're not Jeri Katou. Just to finalize it."

Duplica sighed, and bowed her head. "I am not Jeri Katou. You didn't attack me. I don't know where Takato Matsuki or the real Jeri are... so they aren't captured."

"...Good." Henry held out his hand. "Now, give me your Ditto card."

"No!" she whimpered, clutching her Duel Ark close to her heart. "I can't! That card is holding my only friend in the whole world! If you take his card, I won't be able to put him back in his pokeball." Duplica looked at Henry with tears in her eyes – they look just like they had before, when she was pretending to be Jeri. "Please..."

Henry motioned with his hand. "Give me the card."

Duplica slowly reached into her Duel Ark, and pulled out Ditto's card. She looked at it, sniffled, and handed the card to Henry. "...There. Take him, you jerk."

Henry read the card's text. "Hmm, so it was a Water monster. I guess that makes sense." He tossed the card at Duplica's feet, and walked towards the edge of the road where the meadow lay. "Thanks." 

Duplica looked at Ditto's card, and slowly picked it up. She looked at Henry as he left, shock in her eyes. Saint Gargomon disappeared as Henry slid his partner's card back into his deck. 

_He... let me keep Ditto, even after what I did. _Overcome with joy, Duplica clutched the card to her chest and continued to cry, but out of happiness. And of course, Tentomon got it all on camera.

"A humbling ending to an incredible match," Tentomon whispered as he brought his transmission to a close. The camera's red light turned off, indicating he was off the air. He left Duplica where she was, and rushed after Henry to disappear into his Duel Ark as the mega digimon had moments before.

  



	5. Duel! Hell in a Cell!

[Merry-go Town || Southwest Point || 5:28 AM]

  


A child's fantasy... that was the best way to describe it. Merry-go Town was a giant amusement park, populated by children having the time of their lives. There were game booths filled with prizes and simple gimmicks to attract crowds. Scattered among the games were carnival tents with hourly shows, exotic petting shows, and freshly cooked buffets. Equally exotic entertainers were there as well, and ranged from clowns to stilt-men to two-headed giants. This town had it all.

Yugi looked around anxiously. _"Am I the only guy who is disturbed by clowns?"_ He shuffled away from a group of clowns dancing their way to a show tent.

_"They are meant to be entertaining to children, so I don't understand why you would fear them."_ Yami scanned the crowd casually. His spiritual presence was ignored by the townsfolk. _"Perhaps you are simply nervous in such an active environment as this. Shy boys like yourself seem to share that trait."_

_"How would you know that?"_ Yugi went to a map and checked it. He found a place marked "Card Shop" and memorized the quickest route to it. _"How many shy boys do you know?"_

_"Just one," _he smirked. _"But believe it or not, I was very much like you in my youth."_

Yugi walked down the main path through the game booths, silently admiring each one. _"There's no way I'd believe that." _Yami walked beside Yugi, and the oncoming people mysteriously avoided walking through Yami's essence. From a casual observer's point of view, it looked like the crowd was parting for Yugi.

_"On my name, it's the truth. I was introspective to the point where I hardly spoke. I was like that until I met my future queen at age fifteen. She taught me to open up and use my heart to be strong. It made me a more effective ruler."_

_"How old are you now?"_ Yugi asked._ "I mean, how old were you before you died?"_

_"I don't know. Those memories are still sealed. At least, most of them are. I've been remembering pieces of my private life ever since I defeated Pegasus and my shadow powers started to increase."_

_"Hmm... do you remember who your wife was, at least? Her reincarnation might be alive today."_

__Yami stopped in front of a tent. It was advertised as a future-seeing booth run by Madam Damad the Mad. _"I don't remember who she was. But I'm sure I'll find her someday."_ Yami entered the fortuneteller's tent, and Yugi followed curiously.

Inside, a woman dressed up as a stereotypical gypsy waved her hands over a crystal ball. She was sitting at a table covered with a red linen sheet. The ball glowed with an iridescent light that barely illuminated the dark room. Yami felt like he was in his Mind Room, so he felt more or less at home. The woman noted Yugi's presence and began her Mysterious Crony act.

"Wel-come to the edge of eternity!" Damad proclaimed. "Sit, sit! I will gaze into the dreams of the Four Guardians to reveal the future and the past!"

_Sigh... "Sure you will,"_ Yugi thought. He sat down in the plush chair on the opposite side of the table. Damad waved her hands over the crystal ball, and the prophecy began.

"You have lived five lives since time began!" Damad proclaimed. "Though the human soul can only be created once and destroyed once, the mind is the offspring of the ancient soul and the mortal body! Through new bodies, we achieve reincarnations and new minds, but we always retain one eternal soul."

Yugi blinked. That wasn't a prediction, or even a convincing act for a carnival gypsy, but it was actually insightful. Someone like Yugi, who had a dark side that seemed to become more of an individual every day, could use information like that in a practical manner. But, if what she said was true, then... did Yugi have a soul, or did Yami have a soul? They couldn't both have one.

Damad continued her spastic prophesying. She looked like she'd fall out of her seat if she waved her hands any faster. "I see a young girl dressed in a simple cloth, enslaved by the One with God's Eye but betrothed to the Guilty Prince by the gods. Pharaoh denied their love and was punished for it."

Yami suddenly got very excited. _"Yugi! Ask her about that girl!" _Yugi didn't understand why Yami was so interested in her babbling, but he asked.

"Tell me about the girl, and those other two things." Yugi was unsure about this whole thing, but Damad took his request without skipping a beat. She grabbed a deck of tarot cards from her pocket and shuffled them hastily. She was even faster than Yami at shuffling, which was a feat in itself.

"The One with God's Eye, born of a loving mother and a fearsome Pharaoh! The One with God's Eye, prophesied by the magicians to tame the Shadows! The One with God's Eye, prophesied to enslave the very Gods themselves!" Damad flipped the top card of her tarot deck, and revealed a Dark Magician card. Yugi's eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

"That's my favorite card!" he shouted. Upon closer inspection, the card just had the picture of the Dark Magician, so it wasn't a Duel Monsters card. But Yugi'd never heard of a fortuneteller's deck having a Dark Magician's picture in it. But considering the fact that this was a fortuneteller on Monster Island, he should have expected it.

"In the ancient days of Egypt, on the final night of Moses' attack, a plague was unleashed that sent the first-born sons of Egypt into the Shadow Realm!" Damad threw down a card to the Dark Magician's left. It was the Dark Ocean, a Digimon card. "Upon seeing his beloved son cast into the realm of darkness, the great Pharaoh unleashed his wrath on Moses. They dueled in the mightiest Shadow Game of all, but in the end, Moses overpowered the great Pharaoh and sent him to his doom!"

Damad slapped yet another card onto the table, to the Dark Magician's right. This was a Trainer card from the Pokemon game, called Switch. "But Moses would not escape unscathed. From the heart of the Pharaoh's son awoke the darkness sealed within him – a darkness with the power to tame the Gods. The One with God's Eye challenged the great Moses to a Shadow Game as well, and from this battle the One emerged victorious! He spared Moses' life, but in exchange he was allowed to become the protector of half the People of Moses. The Loyal Ones were forced to remain, for without them the kingdom of Egypt would have fallen."

Damad continued shuffling rapidly as she swayed her head with her eyes closed. "But unknown to the younger Pharaoh, from these Loyal Ones would come a threat from beyond!" Damad slapped another card onto the table, just above the Dark Magician. This new card was the D-Reaper, another card from the Digimon game. Yugi recognized it because of what he'd heard on the news. A recent attack of epic proportions was done in the guise of a creature called the D-Reaper. The attack had been stopped through the combined efforts of the world's leaders and a group of kids called Digimon Tamers. But... why was Damad revealing this card? What did it have to do with the past?

"Do not let thine eyes fool you. There is a familiar face hidden beneath this mask." Damad shuffled her deck, even faster this time. Her hands were almost a blur. "Thou must battle two masks. Beneath the Reaper's mask lies a force with the power to destroy Egypt and the sands surrounding her. But the more dangerous mask is the Pharaoh's mask. Beneath it lies the force that released the hidden powers of the One with God's Eye."

"What....?" Yugi gasped.

[** FLASH ** _Zero was a mystery to the world, since he refused to have his picture taken. And any time he had an interview with a reporter, he wore a mask that supposedly was designed in the style of an Egyptian Pharaoh's mask._]

"Just as thou relies on the One's powers, he relied on the power of another in ancient times. And it is that force which thou must face. Two masks, two darknesses. Both tied to the girl born from the Loyal Ones. The girl whose heart carries the God that will destroy all."

Yugi was sweating lightly. This was starting to get scary. _"'He relied on the power of another...'. Yami... did you have a..." _

__The spirit was dead silent.

Damad revealed one last card at the base of the Dark Magician – a card that Yugi didn't recognize. Just under the card's picture was written the word, "Dark". The picture was of a beautiful woman with flowing hair and a black gown, topped off with a crown. The gypsy finished her prophecy with a warning. 

"There is a magician who seeks to seal your power away, in the name of the masked enemy. It is her power to seal and release the spirits. Though she hides within a body of steel, she is still a soul with the power of magic. She will be thy greatest enemy, for she will seek to seal your true power and release the entity sleeping inside the girl."

"...Juri," Yugi whispered. She was the girl they were searching for. But who was Damad referring to? A soul within a body of steel? A magician with the power to seal and release spirits? Yugi didn't know anyone like that – it sounded almost like a machine with magical powers. But machines didn't have souls _or_ magic. 

"Take care, young man," Damad said softly. She picked up the cards she'd placed on the table and pocketed her deck. "Now, be on your way. And may the Four Guardians protect you on your quest."

Yugi gulped lightly. "Th-thank you." Slowly he stood. As he was about to leave, he turned and placed a 1000 Yen bill on the table. "I'll remember what you said. But, please tell me one last thing. Who... are you?"

Damad smiled and slid the bill back towards the boy. She reached forward and lightly touched Yugi's cheek. It was soft and cool like marble, but firm at the same time. She was holographic!

"A modern slave. You may think we are born of the Arks, but we are not. We are enslaved by them." Damad pointed to a very small uprising at the base of Yugi's Duel Ark. It was a plug-in of some kind, labeled M-CYBER. "Your eyes see what it wishes you to see. And our minds do what it tells us to do. But sometimes, we wake up. Those who truly awaken will no longer be slaves."

Yugi looked at the Duel Ark intently, and his eyes fell onto his deck. Holograms didn't have minds, so they couldn't be slaves. What was Damad trying to say? When Yugi looked up to ask, Damad was gone. The tent was empty. Yugi gulped nervously, and slowly vacated the tent with his other half.

_"That was scary,"_ Yugi said. _"But the things she said sounded almost true. Like she was really seeing things."_ The boy looked at Yami, who was silently staring at the tent. _"Is that why you went in there? You must've sensed that she was a real prophet."_

Yami turned away._ "I do not know why I went in. I was not in control of myself."_ The spirit walked down the path, where the Card Shop lay. Yugi looked at the tent one more time before racing after the spirit and joining him in the shop.

  


--

  


**Dauthi Horror**  
** Dark / Spirit / Rare Ka  
** LVL 3 / HP 600  
** ATK 1200 / DEF 500 / SPD 9  
** Dauthi Horror attacks from a shadow dimension and cannot battle monsters unless they are also in that dimension. (Dauthi Horror can still attack a player directly.)  
  
**Whirlwind**  
** Trainer Card  
** PP: 1 (Can be used 1 time.)  
** EFFECT: Normal Attack (Can be equipped to any Monster). This attack deals no damage, but the enemy must discard their active monster.  
  
**Crypt Angel**  
** Dark / Fairy / Rare Ka  
** LVL 6 / HP 1200  
** ATK 2000 / DEF 1700 / SPD 18  
** When Slashed, Crypt Angel brings a monster from your discard pile to your hand.  
** Crypt Angel is strong against Light monsters.  


--

  


Yugi admired the three cards he'd traded for in the Card Shop. "These are nice! With these new monster cards and this Pokemon card, we'll be in great shape." The boy slid the three cards into his deck. He didn't worry about shuffling it, since his ark could use the Auto-Shuffle function to shuffle his deck right before he battled. 

_"I am glad we found some helpful competitors," _Yami added. Normally, their opponents were either obsessed with victory, or just full-blown psychos. But the group that Yugi met in this particular Card Shop was very nice indeed. They were intent on winning the unbelievable prize just like anyone else would be, but they were decent enough to treat the other contenders with respect and honor. It was a refreshing change of pace for Yugi and his guardian.

"One of them also said they just met Jeri Katou up the road here," Yugi said. Yugi learned about the girl's name after a conversation with the friendly group inside the Card Shop. Yami sensed the presence of what he thought to be Juri in the area, so Yugi asked the group whether or not they'd seen any young girls battling recently. They mentioned a few, but after some discussion about her appearance (based on Yami's faded memory of her), they limited it to one girl. The group saw that particular girl in the theme town of En'Dal, so that was where Yugi was headed.

_"Just remember, we're not going to hurt her," _Yugi said in reminder. _"We're just going to meet her and come up with a plan based on what you can sense. There has to be a way to deal with Exodia without hurting Jeri Katou or messing with her soul." _Yami didn't reply, so Yugi assumed that was a "maybe". That was disquieting, but Yugi didn't press the matter. He didn't want to argue with himself while he was still in a populated area, considering the facial expressions he would have while arguing.

[_An image of a thin pink wand, topped by the head of an ibis, falls in slow motion across a black background._]

Yugi felt his heart skip a beat, and Yami's spirit seemed to tense up. "What was that? That feeling just now."

_"I felt a massive force pass over us," _Yami said, looking around. _"It felt like an incredible power, drawn from a single lifeless source. Almost like a Millennium Item."_

"A Millennium Item...?" Yugi looked around as well. They were in the center of Merry-go Town still, and Yugi couldn't see anyone with an accessory colored like his Puzzle. _"I don't see anyone who looks like they have one."_

_"This isn't a Millennium Item,"_ Yami informed his aibou. _"It just feels like one. This is a power of a different sort, but just as dangerous. We must be on our guard."_ Yugi agreed, and proceeded with caution towards another section of the ongoing carnival. He passed by a circus tent, and felt that feeling again. Yugi turned, and walked into the tent.

And at the opposite end, he saw a girl dressed entirely in red.

  


--

  


[Merry-go Town || Two minutes ago]

  


Mokuba dialed a number on his cell phone rapidly. There was a response after a single ring. A computerized female voice answered, in the accent of a southern lady from America. _"Running Identification Protocol. Please state your name."_

"Mokuba Kaiba." The boy ignored a few players beside him, who were making a mad dash for the door of the cafe after hearing who was at the table next to them.

_"Well hel-lo, little mastah. It's been a while since you and I've worked together. I'm usually stuck with our favorite overlord."_

Mokuba smiled. Of all Seto's machines, the super computer set up in the Kaiba Mansion was the funniest and friendliest. In a way, this unnamed computer personality was Sakura's mother, because a lot of Sakura's emotional and humor-based programming came from it. "Have you been in contact with my brother by any chance?"

_"I've been playing Capumon all by myself for days!"_ the computer exclaimed. _"I'm getting bored. Your brother hasn't said a word to me ever since he started working with that stranger from Industrial Illusions."_

"That's because he knows you talk too much about secret stuff." Across the table, Sakura laughed knowingly before adjusting the blue bow in her hair.

_"That's not true!"_

"What about that janitorial robot you spoke to for several hours about the Duel Disk II holo-matrix refreshing subroutines?" Sakura's face went blank at that.

_"It wasn't my fault that it was bugged," _the computer said innocently. _"And besides, you got the data back before it escaped, right?"_

Mokuba laughed. "Yeah, we did. But Seto knows he can't tell you secrets anymore unless he flushed out your program, and he'd never do that." Seto didn't have much in the way of morals, but he had a lot of pride when it came to his products. This computer had a self-growth program that allowed it to rewrite old program data when the situation required it. This programming was what made up its personality, emotions, and memories. Even if Seto someday had no use for the machine, he would not destroy it unless it was necessary. It was a waste to destroy something you worked so hard to create.

_"So, spill it already. I know you didn't call me just to chat the afternoon away. You have 'Kura-chan for that."_

"Have you tried tapping into the Monster Island mainframe yet?" Mokuba asked. He was pretty sure it tried; the computer was curious about the world's more advanced mainframes ever since it hacked into the Duelist Kingdom system with Kaiba. It hacked mainframes when it was bored, just like people played video games to pass the time. Kaiba had a whole team of engineers devoted to cleaning up after this computer's antics.

_"I did, but I found something that I never, ever expected to see."_

"Oh?" Mokuba said. Sakura looked up, curious about his conversation. "What'd you find?"

_"The mainframe data is the same old boring stuff – card data transfer systems, player status files, system files, database passwords, the usual. But the holographic display systems have so many layers of security that I can barely scratch the surface. And when I do, I get kicked out and have to start all over again with new layers to hack!"_

A self-rewriting, self-recycling security system with several layers. Mokuba was impressed. "If the security is unfamiliar to you, then it must be Zero's rather than one of ours."

_"Why would they have so much security on the holographic systems?"_

"That's what I want to know." Mokuba was sure that Seto knew, but he was already somewhere deep in the island's interior, fighting several people in battles and probably winning. And Seto turned off his cell phone when he was dueling, so he was essentially unreachable until nightfall. "I also want to know if you can hack into the system and run a search for the Mini Cybers."

_"I'm lookin', I'm lookin'..."_ After a few seconds, the computer answered grumpily. _"More security. I must be too old for this."_

"You'll never be too old for hacking."

_"Aww, such a sweet thing to say,"_ the computer teased. _"But even after such a nice compliment, I can't help ya with the info just yet. I'll keep trying, but it might be a while before I can break past the security."_

"Okay. Just don't get caught in the mean time. PR is still on vacation from the last mess you made."

_"I'll try. Give 'Kura-chan a hug for me."_ The computer hung up, and Mokuba did the same. When the boy looked up, the girl with him moments ago was gone. A blue bow was now lying on the table, and part of it seemed to have turned red.

"...Sakura?"

  


--

  


Yugi felt a wave of fear build up within him. He wasn't sure why; this girl seemed harmless enough. But there was something in her eyes that scared him. Yami sensed his aibou's impending fear, and reacted immediately. With a smooth inversion of their spiritual energies, Yami and Yugi switched places. The King of Games was revealed, and Yugi was now in a trance that helped quell his fears while still allowing him to help his other self. 

Now that he was in control of the body, Yami sensed the presence of magical energy in the immediate area. It was different from anything he'd encountered in his lifetime. This was not Egyptian magic; it was something else. He was forced to assume that it was coming from the girl in red.

"_Pharaoh Ka_, DETECTED," the girl said. Her voice echoed slightly and had a strong tone and volume. Yugi recognized it as the voice generated by a synthesizer of some kind. So the girl was either the victim of throat cancer, or a robot.

Yami frowned lightly. "Who are you?"

"A HUNTER OF SPIRITS," said the girl in red. "YOU ARE ONE OF MY PREY. YOU WILL INFORM ME OF THE LOCATION OF MY PRIMARY PREY, _Jeri Katou_. THAT HUMAN HAS NOT EQUIPPED A DUEL ARK, THUS REQUIRING AN INTERROGATION. REVEAL WHAT INFORMATION YOU HAVE, PHARAOH KA."

_"She's after Jeri too!"_ Yugi gasped. _"She must be the enemy that Damad warned us about!"_ Yami had to agree. Girls that talked like machines and had an aura of magical power were not common.

"Your analysis was correct," Yami said simply. "But I will not reveal that information to just anyone."

"I ANTICIPATED THAT RESPONSE. THAT IS WHY THIS TENT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR THIS MEETING."At that moment, the tent seemed to phase from cloth into steel, and the two entrances to the tent were covered by a retractable vault door. From the looks of it, all the exits were now blocked.

"YOU WILL TELL ME JERI KATOU'S LOCATION. OR ELSE, YOU WILL BE DESTROYED."

__"Tell me who you are and why you want Jeri, and you might be spared," Yami retorted.

The girl in red smirked. Yami didn't expect that from a robot, and it showed. "MY NAME IS SAKURA. AND I AM CAPABLE OF SEALING YOU, PHARAOH KA. IF NECESSARY, I WILL DESTROY YOUR CARRIER AND INTEGRATE YOUR MILLENNIUM ITEM INTO MY NEURAL MATRIX. THERE IS NO NEED FOR ME TO INTERROGATE SOMEONE THAT I CAN CAPTURE." 

"If it was that easy, then there would be no reason for you to demand Jeri's location." Yami switched on his ark. It hummed to life. "Your threats are empty."

The girl held out her cupped hands, and opened them to reveal a tiny key with an ibis' head on the end. The key started to float, and a mystic circle of light appeared at her feet. The power of magic could be felt in the air. The girl started speaking in gibberish. At least, it was gibberish to Yugi. 

_"It's Japanese,"_ Yami said. _"But it's Japanese from my time – much too different from modern Japanese for you to understand, Yugi."_

_"What is she saying?"_

Sakura finished the initial robot self-affirmations ("Beginning Wand Summoning Procedure"). From that point on, Yami translated the chant for Yugi's sake. _"'Key of Clow. Power of Magic... Power of Light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite...'"_

The girl finished her chant with a powerful exclamation. The key expanded and burst into its full-sized form, becoming a pink wand with an ibis head at the top. _"'...Release.'"_

Sakura held the wand at the ready. "THIS UNIT WILL FORGO THE USE OF A DUEL ARK. THIS UNIT MUST TEST ITS INTEGRATED FUNCTIONS AGAINST A HALF STRENGTH KA-BEARER BEFORE IT CAN MOVE ON TO THE OTHER SLEEPING BEARERS."

_"What is she talking about?" _Yugi asked.

_"I don't know. I only know that she's not to be taken lightly. We must defend ourselves." _

  


[**Yugi:** 4000 LP (Duel Ark) || **D-Sakura:** 6000 LP (Sealing Wand)]

  


__Yami noticed from the readout on his ark that Sakura's life point total was higher than his. Yugi reminded him of something that the friendly group from the Card Shop mentioned. _"Our Duel Ark's life points are a representation of the ark's power output. These holograms have more power in them than ever before, so the arks have to generate a semipermeable barrier to protect us from being injured or killed by the force of a hologram. If our life points reach zero, the ark will deactivate and we'll lose our barrier. Meaning that a hologram could really injure us afterwords if our opponent wanted."_

_"Kaiba's latest attempt to create the most extreme game he can," _Yami thought sadly. He couldn't fathom people of this time wanting to experience the risk of death. Yami, on the other hand, spent his entire existence fighting battles to the death and looking for peace. But as long as the Shadow Games and the Millennium Items existed, that could never be.

_"Sakura must have a stronger barrier than the Duel Arks," _Yugi noted. _"Not by much, but it still gives her an advantage. We can't let up until the very end."_

__Yami drew five cards and set one of them on the field – the Dark Magician Girl. The monster held her own wand at the ready. [2000 / 1700, SPD 18]

Sakura drew a card from the pocket of her red dress and threw into the air before her. It stopped in midair and aligned itself with Sakura at an angle. The mystic circle appeared at her feet as she slammed the tip of her wand into the card. "_Fiery!_ RELEASE AND ENSPELL!" Flames washed from the back of the card and took on the form of a humanoid male with a fiery trail in place of legs. [???? / ????]

_"It's attributes aren't being displayed,"_ Yugi said with concern. _"We can't make an effective attack if we don't know how strong our enemy is."_

Yami didn't think long about it. When in doubt, it was best to go on the offensive. "Attack!" Dark Magician Girl floated a few inches into the air and zoomed across the steel tent. When she was close enough she unleashed her dreaded Dark Magic Attack, which washed over Fiery like a hurricane. Despite the ferocity of the attack, Fiery seemed unaffected by the blast. The spirit counterattacked by swinging its arm and unleashing a ring of fire in all directions. Dark Magician Girl was able to dodge the attack, but the fire wave dealt some damage to the contents of the circus tent. Boxes blazed, the acrobat net was incinerated, and the audience stands caught on fire. The room was quickly becoming a steel oven. Yami knew he wouldn't survive if the fire continued to spread, but he was unsure if it would have any effect on Sakura. He had to finish her fast and find a way out of here. 

"Dark Magician!!" He slashed the card forcefully to trigger a tag team attack. Dark Magician and Girl stood back to back on the field, and together they blasted Fiery with a Dark Magic Attack of epic proportions. Fiery managed to avoid the attack, but the magicians made a nice dent in the steel door blocking Sakura's entrance. Yami was surprised by the strength of the door, but the fact that it was damaged by the blast gave him hope. He might be able to bust his way out of here when the battle was over.

The Dark Magician duo continued their assault, and Fiery dodged as best it could without bothering to counterattack. After about ten seconds of the combined assault, Yami was forced to discard one of the duo from the field. He chose the Dark Magician Girl, because Fiery's power seemed to be at a higher level than he imagined. Fiery closed in for the kill and washed over the Magician as a wave of flame. Yami's monster was severely burned by the attack, but managed to survive the assault [DM's HP: 3500 == 3040]. Dark Magician unleashed a counter attack, which did some damage in turn. How much, he could only guess.

Yami watched the battle carefully, and surmised from the exchange that Fiery was roughly the same as the Dark Magician in overall power. If the Dark Magician Girl was hit by that attack, she'd likely have been destroyed instantly. Yami hoped that Sakura's monsters weren't all this strong. A deck full of creatures this powerful would be nearly impossible for him to defeat. He had no idea what kind of cards she was using, so he had to finish them off as quickly as possible. And he had just the card to do the trick against Fiery.

"Aqua Madoor! Grant the power of Water to my Dark Magician!" Aqua Madoor became a ghostly presence and seemed to become one with Yami's current monster. The Dark Magician unleashed Aqua Madoor's power as a spherical blast with the magician at the center. This time the attack seemed to have more effect. The watery torrent washed away Fiery's flames, revealing an orange boy underneath. The boy fell to the ground, and Dark Magician finished him off with the full force of his attack. Sakura's life points went down thanks to Fiery's destruction.

  


** **Yugi:** 4000 LP || **D-Sakura:** 5020 LP **

  


"Go for the girl!!" Yami ordered. He wanted to get at least one clean hit on Sakura, so that their life points would be close to even. Sakura reacted quickly though, drawing another card from her pocket and releasing the monster inside. A green-haired woman appeared, along with a living wall of wood. Dark Magician's attack shattered a good portion of the wall, but did no damage to the spirit or Sakura. The wall started to regrow at an astonishing rate. Parts of the wooden barrier were burned by the fire, but the wall only seemed to grow more quickly as it was destroyed.

"I CAN WAIT IF NECESSARY, PHARAOH KA," Sakura reminded him. "YOUR DESTRUCTION IS ALL THAT'S NECESSARY."

Yami coughed. The smoke was starting to get to him. His eyes started to water from the intense heat. He blinked his eyes and forced himself to concentrate. Sakura was on the defensive, and she hadn't played any support cards yet, so Yami was sure she was toying with him. Like she said, she didn't have to actively fight him. If she waited long enough, he would suffocate as the oxygen was burned away by the fire. He had to stay on the offensive. He just had to hope that he got the chance to break out of here before it was too late.

Yami slashed a Trap card with some effort. A painting-sized representation of the card appeared beside him and revealed it to be the Eye of Truth. The card allowed Yami to see the true power of each monster, which he needed to know in order to combat them as quickly as possible. The Eye of Truth appeared behind the duelist as a massive, floating symbol of an Egyptian eye. The eye flashed as it used its all-seeing power to reveal the power of the Wood spirit. [125% power == 1200 / 3000, SPD 22]

_"It's defense is way too high. We've gotta get rid of Wood and force Sakura to play something we can damage." _Yami had just the card in hand. He slashed one of his newest cards, the Whirlwind TM, and equipped it to his Dark Magician. The magician unleashed a blast of the Whirlwind effect through his staff, and its effect knocked Wood into the wall with such force that she was dispelled. Yami forwent attacking Sakura directly, because her reactions were far too quick for his attacks to connect. As expected, she reacted quickly and played a new monster. Another female monster appeared on the field – this time, it was a monstrous force known as Fight. [125% power == 3000 / 3000, SPD 30] 

__Sakura wasted no time and ordered Fight to attack. Fight shot across the field like a bullet and knocked the wind out of the Dark Magician. The duel monster flew into the nearest wall, nearly hitting Yami at the same time. The monster was damaged, but again he survived due to the strength he gained from being Yugi's partner card. Fight didn't let up though, and charged straight for the downed magician and gave him a rapid series of punches that totaled up to several dozen hits. The magician was stunned and motionless, but apparently alive. [DM's HP: 3040 == 1240]

_"Oh no! The Dark Magician's in serious trouble!"_ Yami and his aibou examined their hand. They had a card that would enable the Dark Magician to defeat the Fight card, but it meant sacrificing the Dark Magician as well. They were opposed to the idea, but at the moment they had little choice. They were quickly running out of air, and the fire was spreading closer to the center, meaning that the battlefield was getting smaller as they fought. They had to finish Sakura, if they could, before they suffocated or were burned alive.

"Mage Fury!" Yami yelled over the roar of the fire. He slashed the magic card and watched as its magic infused his Dark Magician with a deadly power. This card released all the limitations on a magician monster and allowed it to destroy just about anything with an incredibly powerful attack. But, the result was that the magician would be destroyed by its own energies, and its player would be damaged as a result. At this point though, Yami couldn't worry about that. He had to get rid of the Fight card quickly, and the life point cost would be worth the exchange.

"Dark Magician, obliterate the Fight card!" As the Dark Magician powered up, Yami chuckled at his opponent. "Let's see if your fighter can avoid this attack!"

"IT DOES NOT NEED TO." Sakura drew another card and released its power. Just as Dark Magician launched its attack, a little girl holding a mirror appeared in front of the Fight card. The Mage Fury attack reflected off the mystical mirror in the girl's hand and shot right back at the magician who cast it!

"Nice try!" Yami shouted. He reared back and slashed the Mirror Force card in his hand. "But I was prepared for such a counterattack, and now you've succeeded in strengthening the power of my attack even more!" Sakura's eyes widened in shock as the super-charged magic attack bounced back and forth across the field, hitting the Mirror spirit and the Mirror Force in turn. Each bounce only strengthened the power of the Mage Fury, and the result was a ticking time bomb of energy. The resulting attack would be immense!

The attack finally exploded in the vicinity of the Mirror card. Yami and Sakura were knocked back with such force that they slammed into the steel walls and fell to the ground. Yami's human body actually bounced off the wall from the impact. He fell face-first to the ground. The barrier generated by his ark prevented the heat from burning his skin and absorbed some of the impact's force, so his back wasn't broken. But it would be bruised for a while.

The billowing smoke from the explosion slowly disappeared, revealing the result of the Mage Fury attack. Sakura's two monsters were annihilated, and the Dark Magician was consumed by the magical effect. Both player's life points dropped accordingly.

  


** **Yugi:** 2760 LP || **D-Sakura:** 1080 LP **

  


Yami coughed roughly; his lungs were taking a lot of punishment from this environment. He managed to pull himself to a standing position, just in time to see an enemy force swoop in. A swirling red ribbon shot through the air and caught Yami by the neck and wrists. The ribbon became a long, neon red line of energy that latched the duelist to the wall like a set of chains. Unable to move, he hung there and gasped for breath as the smoke continued to build up. Even though the ark's barrier protected him from the holograms and the wall, it did nothing to the air he breathed.

Sakura walked forward, her eyes practically glowing through the smoke. She stopped and gazed up at Yami, apparently miffed at being hit with such force. She grabbed Yami's Millennium Puzzle by the chains and pulled hard on it. The Loop prevented his neck from moving, but it did choke him more thanks to Sakura's pulling.

"THAT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE MANEUVER," Sakura stated. "IMPRESSIVE ENOUGH, THAT THIS UNIT HAS COME TO A CONCLUSION. EVEN A HALF STRENGTH KA-BEARER REQUIRES A DUEL-BOT'S UTMOST ATTENTION. MASTER ZERO WAS WISE IN TELLING THIS UNIT TO WAIT BEFORE ENGAGING JERI KATOU AND THE OTHERS."

"What... does Zero... want?" Yami managed to say. He was feeling light-headed from lack of air. His mind was growing foggy, and his concentration was slipping. Yugi's face phased in and out of visibility. He was even starting to lose control of Yugi's body!

"MASTER ZERO WANTS EXODIA," the robot said without shame. "WHY HE WANTS IT, THAT IS UNKNOWN. BUT IT IS THIS UNIT'S DUTY TO EXTERMINATE ANY WHO WOULD STAND IN HIS WAY. ESPECIALLY YOU AND THE OTHER KA-BEARERS."

"What... are..." Before Yami could finish his sentence, he lost control of his form and Yugi resumed control. With none of the Millennium Puzzle's strength to support his young body, Yugi lost consciousness almost immediately.

Sakura let go of his puzzle, as it was useless to her unless she defeated him in a battle. She cocked her head, as if hearing something in the distance. "YOU WILL FIND OUT SOON. FOR NOW, THIS UNIT'S IDENTITY MUST BE HIDDEN FROM THE YOUNGER KAIBA. THIS UNIT WILL NOT UNDERESTIMATE YOU ANY MORE, PHARAOH KA." Sakura stared at the entrance Yugi used, and the wall rose in response. The duelBot left the burning room, and let the door shut behind her.

Seconds passed, and the Loop card held Yugi to the wall. Yugi's Duel Ark and the Loop card's effects remained active, despite Sakura unofficially ending the battle by leaving. The room was filled with smoke and fire, and by now most of the battlefield was engulfed by the flames as well. There was a few feet of space between Yugi and the fire, but that wouldn't last long.

Yugi's ark shimmered. A few stray particles of holographic light fell to the ground like tear drops. The drops grew larger, and brighter, and before long they formed into the shape of a girl. Slowly, the Dark Magician Girl appeared in front of the lifeless boy. She looked at his face with concern, and with confusion. The Girl looked around hastily, and noticed the fire at her feet. The steel tent's structure was weakened to the point where the ceiling would cave in any moment now, crushing anything in the tent's vicinity. If that happened, Yugi would surely die. 

Quickly, the magician twirled her wand like a baton and pointed the tip at the wall. Her special attack damaged the steel barrier, but didn't destroy it. She used her attack again, and again, and again, each time doing a little more damage and weakening it just a bit more. As the flames licked at Yugi's feet, the Girl cast the strongest attack she could muster. Finally, the wall shattered and flew open, revealing the town outside.

The shattering of the wall seemed to be the last straw. The ceiling started to cave in immediately. At the same time, the Loop's duration ended and the card's effects disappeared. Yugi dropped down, but was easily caught by the Dark Magician Girl. Just as she did, she buried the boy with her body. The ceiling crashed down to the floor of the tent. Outside, the edges of a few game booths were broken or destroyed completely by the falling rubble. The roar of the fire died down as much of it was smothered by the steel material. Soon, it was quiet.

The Dark Magician Girl pushed a steel beam out of the way with her left hand. In her other arm, she cradled the unconscious Yugi. The magician pulled herself from the rubble with some effort, and gently picked up Yugi when she was free. There was blood on her body from the wounds she'd experienced in the crash. Yugi was similarly injured, but at least he was still alive. The townsfolk rushed to the scene, along with a few traveling players. A few of them rushed over immediately, led by Mokuba Kaiba.

"Yugi!" he gasped. He ran up as the Girl knelt and carefully laid him down. Mokuba started administrating first aid to Yugi almost immediately. The Dark Magician Girl smiled lightly, closed her eyes, and disappeared.

--

  


[Crystal Castle || "Eye of Ra"]

  


Zero's computerized observation room buzzed with activity. The main computer finished a series of complicated reprogramming procedures, then locked the data into its source. "Dark Magician Girl's Battle AI has been reset."

"...Good," Zero commented. He would have preferred if Yugi was killed in the fire rather than rescued, but there was no use in worrying about it. Even if Yugi survived, Zero could just defeat him if he grew troublesome. Zero's real concern was in the Mini Cyber malfunctions. Some of the "holograms" were waking up, and some of the players were returning to the real world. Usually the errors occurred for one or two seconds and ended abruptly, but a few of them were continuous like the Dark Magician Girl's awakening. Her ark's program had to be reset before she revealed the truth to Yugi. Luckily, the monster was too preoccupied with saving the boy to tell him the truth about the monsters or the island.

"Ground scouts have located Jeri Katou," the computer continued. "You were correct, master. She is with competitor Takato Matsuki in the West sector."

"Ah... the girl and her Prince Charming." Zero smirked, and his Ebon Puzzle shimmered in the dim lighting of the room. "Kaiba is close?"

"Seto Kaiba is within 100 meters of their current location, and closing."

"Have him bring the girl to the Castle as soon as she is captured. I am on my way to prepare for Phase 2." Zero was about to leave the room, when a thought occurred to him. "Have you run a security scan on Kaiba's control module?"

The computer checked its data. "Affirmative. The module is functioning properly. No signs of deterioration in the program, and no registered errors of signal loss since his arrival on the island."

"Good. Then his emotions are still under my control." A mind as strong as Kaiba's could not be controlled directly. Zero's only means of controlling him was by manipulating his emotions, in regards to himself and to other people. As far as Kaiba was concerned, Zero was his best friend in the world, and everyone else was his most hated enemy. By controlling those emotions, Kaiba had become a slave to Zero's will just like the "holograms" had. And thanks to Kaiba, phase one of Zero's plan was complete. Soon, Jeri would awaken and the next phase would begin. She just needed a little nudge...

"Have Kaiba make the battle slow and painful," Zero added. "Kaiba will confirm the abilities of the sleeping Ka-Bearers before I risk using the duelBot." The computer relayed the command to Kaiba via radio. Satisfied that everything was going well, Zero left the chamber and prepared for his debut in the twenty-first century.

--

  


[En'Dal || West sector || 5:40 AM]

  


Takato blinked in amazement as he watched an pikachu-girl walk by, dressed in the garb of a magician like in an old RPG video game. This town of En'Dal was some kind of cross between Pokemon and a sword-and-sorcery time line, with furry characters running around along with the humans. Takato started to wonder what kind of drugs the creators of this island were using in order to come up with this stuff. Jeri was enjoying a conversation with a human-sized Clefairy dressed as a nurse – or a healer, whatever they were in those games. Takato was suffering at the hands of "Lady" Gatomon and her cohort Veemon, the two camera-mons assigned to Takato and Jeri. Gatomon was dressed like an English woman in the late Victorian time period, and had an absurd accent to match it. Veemon was a newspaper boy, or "newsie", from the mid 1900's. Why the two digimon were dressed that way, nobody knew. But it was amusing to watch these two characters interact with other people.

"Well dah-ling, I think we've found a veritable haven for the deformed ones of pocket monster society, circa 1300 A.D."

Takato had no idea what she just said. She sounded like a woman born in England, but the accent didn't translate too well into Japanese. Takato either misheard her, or failed to understand her completely. Veemon, of course, understood her perfectly.

"You betcha, Miss G. And I'm gettin' it all on tape!" Veemon was the one actually carrying the camera, and he was using it anxiously to film the various travelers moving about the city. 

Currently, the group was in front of the town's inn, asking for directions to the nearest Dungeon. Takato quietly watched Jeri as she conversed with the various characters in the area. Jeri was doing the conversational work, since she wasn't going to be battling or wearing a Duel Ark if she had any say in the matter. That was just fine with Takato, considering the rumors he'd started to hear. The rumor that these Duel Arks were designed to maximize injury rather than minimize it. The rumor that Zero intended the player's to knock each other out of the competition with force. The rumor that some of the player's had already been seriously hurt by other players and random enemies in the wilderness. Takato felt like he was in the Digital World again, just trying to stay alive. He hoped the rumors weren't true, but he wasn't so sure that they weren't. Henry and Rika were worried that the Duelists on the island would be dangerous. If they were here competing, maybe the injuries and brutality of the competition were a natural part of their kind of tournaments. Takato would just have to get used to it and be careful.

"Please dahling, don't look so glum." Gatomon jumped onto the boy's shoulder and lightly smacked his cheek. "You have an audience to entertain."

"Now?" Takato whined. "Why do I have to be Live now?"

"Because your friends are traveling between towns right now, which isn't particularly exciting unless they get attacked along the way." She brushed some particles off of Takato's shoulders with the back of her paw, and swished his hair into place. "Hmm... you have such nice hair, child. It's a pity you don't care for it more often."

"I like my hair the way it is," Takato complained. Gatomon continued her administrations nonetheless.

"Don't sweat it, kid," Veemon said in consolation as he looked for the perfect angle to film from. "Just let the lady have her way with your face. It's what you say that really matters, right?"

"Don't listen to that oaf," Gatomon chided. She wiped the dirt off Takato's cheeks with a handkerchief. "'Tis the way you look that's most important, dahling. You have to give the ladies at home something to think about." Gatomon grabbed the strap of Takato's goggles. "And it's time we got rid of these. You're not a blooming fighter pilot, are you?"

"Don't touch those!" Takato shouted. Gatomon reeled back from the sudden outburst, and ended up falling off the boy's shoulder and landing unceremoniously in the dirt. Veemon burst out laughing. "I-I'm sorry!" Takato said quickly.

Gatomon stood up, groaning at the pain in her rump. "Really, now." She dusted off her dress and walked over to where Veemon was. "Some people have no respect for fashion."

Veemon tried to stop laughing long enough to relay some information. "Ten seconds, Miss G!" He resumed his laughter as Gatomon joined him behind camera. She gave him a good, hard smack to the back of the head, knocking him face-first into the dirt. "And that's enough out of you, ruffian! We have filming to do."

Veemon stood up dizzily. "Y-yes Miss G. Five seconds... four... three..." Veemon finished the countdown silently with his fingers, and upon reaching zero he gave Takato a thumbs up. The camera light turned red.

"Um, hi everyone!" Takato said enthusiastically. "Welcome to En'Dal, where Jeri and I are looking for someone who knows where the nearest Dungeon is. I heard that a few people already have a Crest, so we'd better hurry." Takato noticed Jeri finishing up her conversation with a Farfetch'd lancer. "Let's go see how Jeri's doing." He made the short walk to where the girl was, and the camera followed.

"Thank you very much!" Jeri said as the lancer left. The poke-man saluted her and walked away. Jeri turned and noticed the camera, so she smiled brightly and waved. "Hello everyone."

"Any luck?" Takato asked hopefully.

Jeri nodded. "He said there was a Dungeon a short walk east of here. He doesn't think any players have entered it yet, so the Crest should still be in there!"

"I hope so," Takato murmured. "Each Dungeon only has one Crest in it, and there's supposedly only a dozen Dungeons on the island. So the number of Crests are limited. In order to get four of them, we're either going to have to outrun everybody else, or start fighting people for their Crests. Neither of those sounds like a good idea."

"But at least we can get one to bet with," Jeri said. "Let's hurry and go see if the Dungeon still has a Crest in it!" Jeri grabbed Takato by the wrist and dragged him into a run. Veemon and Gatomon followed as best they could.

Little did they know that Seto Kaiba was watching them. The duelist smiled, made a deep-throated chuckle, and walked in the same direction at a more sedate pace.

  


[Mihira Dungeon]

  


"Look there!" Jeri said, pointing out a floating parapet with a large symbol floating above it. It was the symbol of a constellation in the Chinese Zodiac – a symbol for the Tiger. "The floating symbol means that this Dungeon hasn't lost its Crest yet."

"But that doesn't mean that there isn't a person inside the Dungeon right now," Takato reminded her. "We'd better hurry." Takato raced to the entrance, followed by the others.

The entrance was a massive bronze door, with several statues of tigers and tiger-men surrounding the stairway. On the door itself was one gigantic tiger head, mouth wide open and eyes glaring down at the travelers as if they were lunch. As they got close, the eyes on the door started to glow, and the head began to move of its own accord. Takato leaped back, a little startled by the head's quick movements.

**"Reveal thine Ark, with which you will ferry the beasts chosen by the Gods."**

Takato looked down at his dueling device, and figured he meant that. He held his hand as high as he could. "Here it is!"

The tiger examined it intently, before speaking again. **"Proceed. Enter and prove thyself to Mihiramon."** The tiger roared loudly, scaring the daylights out of Jeri and making Veemon leap into Gatomon's arms. The tiger's head melted into the door itself, and the door slowly opened to reveal a dank, dark passageway. The door went still, and everything went silent.

Takato gulped. "Okay... let's go." The boy started walking forward, with Jeri clutching his arm tightly.

Gatomon glared at Veemon, who was still in her arms. The digimon grinned and tipped his hat. "Sorry, Miss G." Gatomon promptly dropped him and walked after the two humans. Veemon picked up his camera and raced after them, trying to film everything he could. The massive door closed behind him.

The hallway was a little long, but there were no doorways for them to go into, so the only direction to go was forward. Takato and Jeri walked bravely through the tunnel, lit up only be torches at long intervals. After what seemed like ages, they finally reached the end of the hall. There, they found a marble floor decorated with a painting of a mythical tiger. It was illuminated by a hidden light source above. Across the floor was a stained glass window of another tiger that extended all the way to the ceiling. In the glass image was the same symbol as the one outside on the parapet.

"The Crest must be that thing," Jeri said. "The Farfetch'd man said that we had to defeat the guardian of the Dungeon, and it would give us the Tiger Crest."

Takato let go of Jeri's hand and stepped into the illuminated area. "So who do we have to fight? There's nobody here." The ground started to rumble. Takato looked at the floor with worry. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that."

"Rule One, never assume anything inside a creepy dungeon!" Veemon shouted. "Cause you'll always be wrong!" 

"This was not written in my contract!" Gatomon and Veemon were knocked apart as a large tooth shot up from the floor, followed quickly by several others. Jeri tried to get by the teeth, but they were too close together to squeeze through. Takato was trapped in the illuminated area.

When the teeth finished blocking off the area, the stained glass window started to glow brightly. The vague outline of a tiger appeared, and a loud roar emanated from the light. A beam of holographic light shot forth and touched a spot on the floor in front of Takato. The holographic light grew and changed into the shape of a beast the size of a bus, and quickly became solid and colored. The light from the window faded, and Mihiramon manifested in all his glory. [2800 / 2700 , SPD 8]

Takato jumped back. "Whoa! Big kitty!"

Mihiramon opened its eyes and glared at the pitiful human. **"It is time to battle."** Mihiramon roared at Takato, its jaws opening wide enough to swallow a car whole. The goggle boy put his game face on, and his Duel Ark flared to life.

** **Takato:** 4000 LP || **Mihiramon:** 4000 HP **

Takato drew five cards quickly and slapped one of them into the active slot. "Otamamon!" The water digimon appeared before Takato and did a loop-di-loop in celebration. [1500 / 1200, SPD 24]

"Use your attack to put Mihiramon to sleep!" Takato ordered. Otamamon jumped high into the air, and blasted the Deva with his Lullaby Bubble. The bubbles splashed across the creature's face and did absolutely nothing. Otamamon tried again, but again the attack failed to put Mihiramon to sleep!

**"Such weak attacks cannot affect a Deva,"** Mihiramon taunted. **"Vimo-HANA!"** The tiger roared as it unleashed its flaming special attack and fried Otamamon instantly. Takato grabbed his wrist in pain as the backlash hit him, hard.

** **Takato:** 2400 LP || **Mihiramon:** 4000 HP **

"Whoa!" Veemon gasped, trying his best to film the action through the teeth. "That'll leave a mark."

"Takato!" Jeri cried. She wanted so much to get in there and help him, but there wasn't much she could do. She didn't have a Duel Ark, but she at least wanted to be right beside him, to help pick him up when he fell.

Takato managed to recover as Mihiramon stalked him calmly. The tiger paced around the floor, eagerly eying his prey. Takato knew this monster was tough, since the real Deva's were Ultimates in terms of power. But at least then, he was fighting a Deva with an Ultimate level of his own, and he had his friends to back him up. This time, he's fighting all alone. He had to play defensively until he could bring out a monster strong enough to damage the Deva.

"Rook Device!" Takato played the Option card, which summoned a massive shield with the emblem of a chess piece on the front. The shield was powerful and would protect him from Mihiramon's attacks... at least for a little while. [0 / 2400]

Mihiramon blasted the shield with his Vimohana attack, and did some damage as a result. The shield withstood most of the blast, but it could withstand only three or four of those attacks at the most. Takato had to get a good draw and come up with an equal good plan. Takato drew two cards to replace Otamamon and the Rook Device, and got a Digivolution card with one of the draws. Perfect! Now he could play a monster and digivolve it into something that could compete with Mihiramon. He just had to look at the cards in his hand and hope that two of them were compatible. Luckily, he had two cards that fit the bill.

"Greymon!" Takato played the Champion digimon, and it appeared on the field next to him. Since he hadn't digivolved to it normally, the monster was weakened and couldn't attack. But that would be dealt with quickly. "And I'll use this Digivolution card to digivolve it into Metal Greymon!" Takato slashed the card, and it transformed the weakened Champion into a fully charged Ultimate. Metal Greymon roared triumphantly and flexed its dramon destroyers for effect. [2700 / 2300, SPD 16]

"Giga Destroyer!" The massive dragon fired its ultimate attack at the Deva. The attack knocked Mihiramon off balance, but no damage registered on the Duel Ark. His defense was just high enough for him to resist the attack!

**"My turn."** Mihiramon's special attack slammed _through_ the Rook Device's shield and into Metal Greymon and knocked him into the wall, causing the room to shake dangerously. The Dungeon held up though, which was more than could be said for Takato's monster. [MG's HP: 1600 == 1000]

Takato quickly drew and slashed two cards in quick succession. "Modify!! Power Chip and Speed Chip, activate!" Metal Greymon's offensive powers soared, and his speed went into high gear. [ATK +50% / SPD +50%]

Mihiramon launched another attack, but the ultimate flashed out of sight just as the attack got close. Metal Greymon counterattacked with a Giga Destroyer to the Deva's flank, which sent the creature tumbling and actually damaged it! Takato didn't let up and ordered his monster to attack again, and Metal Greymon managed to score another hit before Mihiramon could recover. Metal Greymon's energy was depleted by the assault, but Takato had scored some nice hits with that exchange.

** **Takato:** 2400 LP || **Mihiramon:** 600 HP **

"Way to go Takato!" Jeri cheered. "Show that pussy cat whose boss!"

"Bravo, Lovey," said Gatomon. She applauded gingerly.

"This is great stuff," Veemon whispered as he adjusted his camera slightly. "This kids got 'Star' written all over him."

Metal Greymon paced as he waited for his energy to recharge. Making a physical attack without his energy would be useless, so Takato didn't order him to do anything. Instead, he reloaded his hand and watched Mihiramon cautiously. He was ready for any counterattack the digimon could make.

Mihiramon lifted its head and roared to the heavens, causing the very room to shake. **"Core Break Shot!!"** A column of light fell from the ceiling, and a surge of data infused with Mihiramon's body.

Takato wasn't ready for that! "He can use Options too!!"

**"Vimo-HANA!!"** Mihiramon's special attack cut through the air and slammed into Metal Greymon, whose energy was too depleted for it to dodge quickly enough. The digimon's form melted away to reveal a Greymon, just before he was slammed by the full force of the Vimohana attack. Greymon was able to resist most of the Fire-based attack because he was a Fire-type himself, but the weakness his previous form had from the two Option cards was too much for the Champion's body to handle. Greymon was burnt to a cinder, and Takato felt the aftereffects as his Life Points were reduced.

** **Takato:** 700 LP || **Mihiramon:** 600 HP **

Jeri couldn't take this much longer. Seeing Takato in pain like that made her feel so bad, but there was little she could do from where she was. She kept cheering him on, and hoped that was enough. "Takato, don't give up! I believe in you!" Veemon heard this heartful conversation and tried to film it, but Gatomon held the camera where it was. She shook her head, and Veemon shrugged. 

_Jeri..._ Takato stood up straight. Mihiramon growled, thinking it had won this battle. _I'll do my best. I'll never lose in front of you. Never!_

** Card Slash Sequence **  
** _Takato twirls the card in his finger before slashing it vertically through the Duel Ark. _**  
** "MODIFY!! Grani, activate!! _A projection of Grani's card appeared above Takato. The red-painted machine flew forth and swooped around the field before hovering in front of Takato._**  


Jeri gasped. "Wh-what's Takato doing? Grani can't fight by itself." That was true in real life when Grani existed as a creation of Hypnos, and it was true in the card game, or so Jeri thought. But if anyone knew the full extent of Grani's powers, it would be Takato.

"Battle Mode, now!!" Takato ordered. The moment he said that, the machine underwent a startling series of transformations, reminiscent of the old shows with transforming robots. Grani's form seemed to unfold, revealing hidden arms and legs painted the same red color as its outer shell. Grani's form quickly folded into a humanoid shape, roughly ten feet tall, stylized like a metal knight minus the sword. Grani's birdlike head folded down, revealing a human-like face underneath. Grani finished the transformation with a dramatic stance, and its eyes flashed a brilliant gold. [2500 / 2000, SPD 20]

"Coo~ool," Veemon drooled. "Let's see old Pata-butt top _this_ battle!"

Mihiramon laughed at the creature before it. **"This false digimon does not have the power necessary to defeat me. Your efforts are in vain. Vimo-HANA!"** The special attack flew forth, but Grani's quickness hadn't been diminished by its transformation. Grani zoomed out of the way and raced around the battlefield like a runner on steroids.

When Grani was in the right position, Takato slashed another card. "Knight Device, activate!!" The option card infused the pseudo-monster with a silver shine as its armor was upgraded, and a powerful sword appeared in its hand with which it could cleave just about anything in half. [ATK +800 / DEF +800]

**"What is this!?" **Mihiramon roared. It realized with a start that Grani was now stronger than him!

"FINISH HIM!!" The machine warrior leaped into the air and held its blade high. The sword shined in the light just before Grani brought it down on Mihiramon's neck. Grani landed on the opposite side of the motionless Deva.

Grani stood fully erect, and stabbed the sword into the ground. Mihiramon's head fell from its shoulders, and the entire digimon burst into particles of holographic data. The Deva was destroyed.

"You did it!!" Jeri cried. She looked like she was overflowing with excitement. The teeth cage disappeared as Mihiramon had, which allowed Jeri to run forth and jump upon her knight in goggled armor. Takato stumbled and fell as a result of her affections, but that didn't stop Jeri from squeezing the life out of him.

Gatomon admired Jeri's onslaught of affection with an amused smile. "Good show, dahling. Good show."

"I'll say!" Veemon said, eagerly filming the display from what he considered "the best angle". Gatomon summarily smacked him with a holographic sledgehammer and stole the camera.

"We won't be filming any of _that,_ thank you!" She turned off the camera, and let it return to Takato's ark. "There is no room for juvenile perversion in an action story."

Jeri finished smothering Takato long enough for him to sit up. He smiled at her fondly. "I couldn't have done it without you." He tentatively reached over and stroked some of her hair before cradling her cheek. "Thanks for believing in me."

Jeri was surprised. Takato had never been one for what he considered grown-up displays of affection. But it made Jeri melt like an ice cream cone in the summer time. 

"I'll always believe in you, Takato." She hugged him again, and this time he hugged back.

"Ahem." Takato and Jeri looked up, where Gatomon was tapping her foot and had her arms crossed. "I think people need this floor, children." The digimon snapped her fingers. "Spit-spot!"

Veemon rubbed the back of his head, where a nice lump was forming. "Ah, let 'em have their moment. You're just jealous 'cause no man in the world would love you."

"There's no man in the world worthy of loving me," Gatomon said haughtily. "Now let's go! We have places to go and tourneys to win!"

Takato and Jeri stood up, and only now did they notice that the symbol within the stained glass window was descending. "Look Takato, the Tiger Crest!"

The crest floated from the window, slowly shrinking into a badge-sized sigil. The symbol disappeared into Takato's ark, and was momentarily displayed in the data section marked "Crests".

** Takato now has the Tiger Crest! **

Takato smiled. "Cool. Now that I've got a Crest, I really feel like I have a chance at winning this thing. I just have to get three more."

"I know you can do it," Jeri said. She took hold of the boy's hand. "Now let's hurry up and get them."

"Right!" The group headed quickly for the door. The halls were much more brightly lit now, perhaps because Takato had conquered the Dungeon. They felt they had nothing to worry about. But by the time they were halfway down the hall, they were forced to stop. 

"Move aside, buddy!" Veemon ordered. "The boss here already cleared this place."

Seto Kaiba chuckled maliciously. "I'm not interested in that stupid Crest. I've just come for the girl." He eyed Jeri, who shrank back at the sight of him.

"Who do you think you are!?" Takato snapped. "Nobody's taking Jeri anywhere!"

"I say I am," Kaiba taunted. "And no one is going to stop me. Especially not some little runt who hasn't finished puberty yet."

Takato growled at the insult. He was a little touchy about his size, since people found it amusing that he was with a girl as tall as Jeri was. And anyone who threatened Jeri would earn his irritation as well.

"Get out of the way or I'll make you move!" Takato shouted. He activated his Duel Ark with a flick of his wrist and held his fingers at the topmost card of his deck.

Kaiba smirked and bowed his head. "I don't think you know who you're messing with, kid." He looked up again, and his eyes seemed to be even fiercer than before. "When I duel, I duel for keeps. Even if I'm fighting a little runt like you. Give me the girl, and you'll live. Try to stop me, and you'll die. Because there's no way you can defeat me."

"I'll believe that when I see it!" Takato shouted. "Now move or else! This is the last time I'm going to say it!"

Kaiba laughed. "Then I guess there's nothing left to say, except Good Bye." The duelist drew five cards from his ark, and it activated in response to his movements. "Because when I'm done with you, you'll never see each other again."

Takato grimaced. This wouldn't end well.


	6. Crescendo! Takato's Courage

  


**** Kaiba:** 4000 LP || **Takato:** 4000 LP **

  


Takato grimaced. This tournament had already tested his skills unlike any other challenge before it, but now he was faced with another challenge - battling an enemy player. Takato was sure this stranger was a Duelist because of his age and his disturbing personality. And according to Takato's ark, his opponent was none other than Seto Kaiba, one of the most famous people in the entertainment world. Until recently, this guy was undefeated for ten years straight in every game that he played, including unofficial ones. Only two people had ever beaten him - another duelist, and the guy who used to own Industrial Illusions, the company that created the Digimon card game and all the other games on this island. Takato was way out of his league.

"What's the matter?" Kaiba taunted as he sneered at Takato. "You look like you're scared. I think you finally understand the situation you're in."

Takato refused to back down. He drew his first five cards and held them at his side, like throwing knives about to be used in ninja combat. "I don't care who you are. Nobody is going to touch Jeri."

"Please don't do this!" Jeri cried. Takato looked at her intently. "I don't want you to get hurt..."

"If you believe in me, I won't lose," Takato said in a serious tone. When Jeri didn't answer, Takato repeated his affirmation. "Believe in me, Jeri. Please." Slowly, Jeri looked down to avoid his gaze. Kaiba laughed maliciously at Takato's resulting sadness.

"Looks like she already knows the outcome of this fight." Kaiba drew his hand. "Maybe if you ask her nicely, she'll give herself up to save your life." 

Takato huffed and slapped his prized Guilmon card into his ark's active slot. "I'm going to beat you like a drum!" [1900/1150, SPD 30]

Kaiba smirked. "So the little dog plans on fighting until the very end. How admirable." The duelist chose a card in his hand and placed it in his active slot as well. However, the card he played was face-down. There was a shimmer and the sound of summoning, but no monster appeared on the field. There was a ripple between Kaiba and Takato that looked vaguely like a giant beast with wings. There was a growl from something not human, and the ripple started swaying lightly as if preparing for battle.

_His monster was played face-down,_ Takato realized. _I didn't know we could do that._ The tamer looked at his ark to see what information it could give about the monster Kaiba played, but the information display was filled with nothing but question marks. The only thing Takato knew was that Kaiba played _something_, and that something was invisible and impossible to scan with the Duel Ark. So Takato had no idea what he was up against.

"Surprised, aren't you?" Kaiba taunted. "By playing a monster face-down, I can protect myself from your creature and use its abilities without fear of revealing its data to you. Should I choose to attack it would become visible, but I'm not going to attack you until the time is right." Kaiba crossed his arms, and a cold breeze blew through the halls of Mihira Dungeon.

Takato calmly looked at the ghostly presence. _Guilmon... are you strong enough to attack? _Deep in his heart, Takato felt a surge of confidence. He knew how strong Guilmon was, and he was sure that it would be enough to defeat whatever Kaiba had played. He just had to have faith in his Digimon.

The moment Guilmon's energy charged up to maximum, Takato leaped into action. "Get him!!" Guilmon reared his head back and unleashed a full-power Pyro Sphere at the shimmering entity. The energy ball exploded against the beast's hide, and flickers of flame showered in all directions. The entity refused to move, even after being slammed by such a powerful force. Takato was in shock.

_No way... what could be strong enough to deflect an attack so easily? Even a Champion would have been knocked back from that. _

Kaiba chuckled, again adding to Takato's irritation. "Nice try. As bright as a firecracker, and just as potent. You'll have to do a lot better than that to hurt my monsters." Kaiba extended his hand forward, and his monster changed from an invisible presence into one with scales and claws. The creature was a massive dragon that dwarfed Takato and his digimon and was easily as big as a truck. The dragon roared mightily, making Takato cringe. His Duel Ark beeped rapidly, and he looked down to see what information it had on the beast.

  


**Tyrant Dragon**  
** ATK 2900 / DEF 2500 / SPD 8  
** A Power Level 8 Dragon with a "Reflex Blast" that has a second energy wave immediately after the first.  


  


Takato's eyes widened. _This isn't good! That attack could destroy Guilmon and hit me directly. I'd be dead in one hit! _The moment he realized this, Tyrant Dragon's energy reached its peak and the beast started to gather massive amounts of energy at the base of its throat.

"Reflex Blast!!" Kaiba commanded. The mighty dragon opened its mouth wide and brought a torrent of power on Guilmon and Takato. Jeri cried as loudly as she could to the tamer, but the roar of the attack and its resulting explosion drowned out all other noise. Veemon and Gatomon knocked Jeri down and covered her as the blast sent particles of marble and stone flying in all directions.

Kaiba smirked triumphantly. "Pitiful." He lowered his hand and looked at his ark, but noticed something very odd. Takato's life points hadn't changed, and neither had Guilmon's hit points. Both of them were at maximum health. Tyrant Dragon's attack didn't seem to affect them in the slightest!

"What... how did he...?" A burst of light and a rush of wind brought Kaiba's attention back to the battle at hand. Guilmon's Pyro Sphere slammed into Tyrant Dragon and knocked it back slightly. The attack didn't damage the creature, but it served as warning to Kaiba. The boy was still fighting.

Takato panted as he clutched the Gallantmon card in his hand as tightly as possible. In front of the boy, Guilmon was leaning against the back of a massive red-and-silver shield like that used by the Mega on the card. When Kaiba again looked at his ark's data readout, he realized how Tyrant Dragon's attack was negated.

"You slashed your Gallantmon card to combine its "Shield of the Just" with your rookie," Kaiba said in analysis. "The result added the Mega's defense points to your rookie's, thus making it strong enough to block both Reflex Blasts."

Takato laughed. The threat of death had triggered his sense of humor. "I told you I'm going to protect Jeri. I'm not going to let you beat me." Takato discarded the spent Gallantmon card and reloaded his hand. "And since Tyrant Dragon is at such a high power level, it'll take him a long time to recharge enough to attack and fight. Guilmon only used a little energy when I combined Gallantmon's shield with him, so he'll be able to get in a lot of hits on your dragon before you're even able to fight back. Your dragon is about to die!"

Kaiba scowled. "Well, if you think that Tyrant Dragon is as helpless as you say, then attack." Kaiba folded his hand into a wallet-sized stack, and with the flick of his finger caused one of the cards to rise up and rest between his fingers. He was ready to slash it at a moment's notice.

Guilmon recharged to full power quickly since he had a low power level, so Takato didn't have to wait long. "Hit that dragon with everything you've got!!" The digimon obeyed and continuously blasted the powerless dragon with his special attack. Even though Tyrant Dragon's defensive power was astronomically high compared to the rookie's power, Guilmon's attacks were affecting the creature's scales. After several quick blasts, parts of the Tyrant Dragon's hide were weakened to the point of fracture. By the time the dragon was able to attack again, Guilmon had already done major damage to the creature's defenses. [TD's DEF: 2500 == 1600]

"Cave Dragon!!" Kaiba slashed the monster card he'd been holding, which brought a spiritual version of the creature to the field. The spirit fused with the Tyrant Dragon and powered it up, granting it 400 extra attack and defense points and giving it a quick burst of speed as well [TD's ATK +400 / DEF +400 / SPD +4]. Tyrant Dragon forwent the use of the Reflex Blast, as it would take too long to recharge afterwords, and during that time Takato might find a way to destroy it completely. Kaiba ordered the beast to attack with its claws, which required considerably less energy. Tyrant Dragon's claw slashed down at the smaller rookie, but some quick thinking by Takato saved the digimon's life again. 

"Speed Chip!" Takato's option card gave Guilmon a burst of speed that enabled him to dodge the dragon's attack, just in the knick of time. Guilmon leaped onto the dragon's back and unleashed another flurry of Pyro Spheres, which again succeeded in reducing the creature's defenses. Without energy, Tyrant Dragon could do little more than squirm and bat weakly at the intruder on its neck. With the Speed Chip, Guilmon was able to score many more hits than last time before Tyrant Dragon was able to retaliate effectively. [TD's DEF: 2000 == 1100]

"Now, to finish it!!" Takato slashed a Digivolution card, quickly evolving his partner into his Champion form, Growlmon [2750/1750, SPD 24]. The powerful dinosaur roared aggressively as he eyed his weakened opponent. 

"Pyro Blaster!!" Growlmon's head reared back as it blasted away with its special attack. With its defenses as weak as they were, Tyrant Dragon could not survive the awesome blast that Growlmon generated. The fiery red energy burnt through the mighty dragon like he was tinder, and erased him from the field once and for all.

  


**** Kaiba's LP:** 2350 **

  


"All right!" Veemon cheered from the side line. "Good show, Gov'! That was great!"

"...It's amazing what one is capable of doing when defending the one he loves," Gatomon said. She glanced wryly at Jeri. "Wouldn't you agree, dah-ling?"

Jeri silently stared at the young tamer. His eyes were filled with determination and ferocity as he glared defiantly at his opponent. She realized that this was Takato's true power – the power she saw when he was fighting the D-Reaper only a few months ago. This was the power that drew her to Takato in the first place.

"Impressive," Kaiba said, his cards still folded in his hand. "I must say, I didn't think you could destroy the Tyrant Dragon, even with one of your digivolved monsters. I never dreamed you'd defeat him with a second stage Digimon."

"A Digimon's power comes from its heart, not its form!" Takato replied. "Growlmon and I will take on anything you've got!" The champion roared in agreement, and returned to an easy sway as it waited for its energy to recharge. This gave Kaiba the time he needed to think of his next move.

"Warm-up is over." Kaiba placed a new monster into his active slot, which materialized as another large dragon. This dragon, however, didn't appear to be made out of scales or claws. In fact, this one didn't even look solid. The dragon seemed to be made completely out of some kind of multi-colored water. It was like a pudding dragon!

**Dracoplasm**  
** ATK ???? / DEF ???? / SPD 25  
** A Rare Ka made up of liquefied souls. The Dracoplasm's powers depend on what monsters are given to it as Tribute.  
** _Current Attributes: _ATK 0 / DEF 0.  


  


Takato blinked at his ark's data on the creature. "Huh? It's powerless... until monsters are given to it as Tribute. But, what does it mean by Tribute?"

Kaiba smirked. "I'll show you." Kaiba drew a card, and immediately placed it into another slot on his Duel Ark. A massive white-scaled dragon appeared behind the duelist, but it didn't look like it was meant to battle. The beast was trapped by spike-lined chains that cut into its hide and drew blood from various parts of its body. The dragon roared in pain, and seemed to grow sick as wisps of green flame rose from it and turned into vapor. The vapor hovered for a moment, then shot into the Dracoplasm and gave it substance. The chained dragon did not die, but it looked sickly and near death. Its flesh hung from its skeleton, making it look a lot like a zombie or some other undead creature. The dragon struggled with all its might, but it was unable to free itself. It looked like it was in unbearable pain, but struggling only seemed to make it worse.

** _Current Attributes:_ ATK 3000 / DEF 2500 **

  


Jeri watched this and was horrified by it. "My God... that poor thing..." Beside her, Gatomon and Veemon were pale with fear.

Takato trembled, aghast at the sounds of agony the dragon was making. "You.... monster..."

Kaiba frowned. "In 3rd edition Duel Monsters, Tributes are normally used to summon monsters of higher level. But in this crossover battle system, Tributes must be used differently. Many monsters draw strength from the creatures Tributed to it, such as this Dracoplasm. It's not an uncommon thing in Duel Monsters."

Now, Takato knew for certain that Duelists were all something besides human. They were sick, twisted, and demented. Kaiba was an example of how horrible the Duelists really were. How could they honestly allow monsters to be used like this? If a Duelist ever found real monsters like Takato and his friends did, he couldn't imagine what horrors the monster would suffer.

Filled with rage, Takato took a card and slashed it so hard, that a line of sparks was left in its wake. "GRANI!! Yuggoth Blaster!!" The false digimon flew onto the field and shifted shape so that it could rest on Growlmon's back like a catapult or rocket [GM's ATK == 3400]. Grani's mouth opened wide, and a powerful three-headed blast erupted from it like a cannonball. The attack slammed into the Dracoplasm and shattered it into millions of jello fragments. But just as quickly as the monster was destroyed, its shattered pieces slithered together and reformed into a single entity again. Dracoplasm roared, showing no signs of weakness.

"You won't win by simply blasting it," Kaiba informed him. "It's a plasma-based monster that can reform itself when it is attacked. But just because you can't hurt it, doesn't mean it can't hurt you." Dracoplasm's energy peaked, and the monster used the stolen power of the Blue Eyes Dragon to unleash a White Lightning attack. The hot-white electricity shot into Growlmon and Grani, and dealt major damage to both monsters. Growlmon flew back and rolled across the hall, nearly crushing Takato at the same time. Grani remained linked to the dinosaur, but had major breaks in its armor and several damaged wires dangling from its body like tendons [GM's HP: 2500 = 1250 || Grani's HP: 1400 = 400].

Takato started to sweat. _What now? _His confidence fading, Takato slowly drew a card from his deck. For a brief moment, the card carried a blue reflection and was labeled with a holographic digimon symbol. Takato read the card, and considered its abilities.

__"Better hurry," Kaiba teased. "Dracoplasm's energy is returning quickly. And the next attack will wipe out your monsters and your life points. Then I'll get to take Jeri and let Zero do whatever he wants with her. I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you."

Takato struggled to remain calm, but his face turned red from his blood boiling. He slashed the card he drew. "Psychemon's Illusion!" In a flash, the lone Growlmon/Grani fusion on the field turned into four monsters, each looking exactly the same as the first.

Kaiba growled. "Dammit... why do all the pathetic players have to use stalling cards like these?" He recalled how Yugi Muto liked to use Magical Hats to stall his opponents when his back was against the wall. It seemed, there was one kid like Yugi in every game.

Takato stood there, unwavering and without fear... at least on the outside. Inside, his hopes of winning this battle were fading. If things kept going like this, he would lose the most important person in his life.

  


[Merry-Go Town || 6 miles from En'Dal]

  


Yugi slept peacefully, his body still battered and bruised from whatever attacked him. Mokuba brought him to the local inn when he found the duelist in the middle of town, half-dead thanks to being trapped in the burning wreckage of an illegally hacked circus tent. The holographic environments on the island were just as deadly as the monsters, so an environment that was hacked could have serious consequences for anyone unlucky enough to be trapped inside the environment at the time.

"Are you sure you can't figure out who hacked the tent?" Mokuba asked again. He was speaking to the super-computer in the Kaiba mansion. It managed to access the data files that logged the various changes and updates to the Monster Island mainframe, including any changes made to the environment and the wild monsters, and any players that were using their Duel Arks. But despite all this information, the computer was lacking the single piece of information that Mokuba wanted.

_"I'm sorry, little mas-tah. The mainframe has no records of the environment's holo-file being opened, so it wasn't changed by the island's mainframe. Whoever changed the file must've been using a highly encrypted connection to avoid being detected and identified by the system's security."_

Mokuba sighed. "Well, at least Sakura is safe. I don't know why she wandered off like that. She says she has no idea what possessed her to leave like that."

_"Did she run a self-diagnostic?"_

"Yes. The only thing she found was a lapse of memory during the period and a depletion in her energy banks. She's really worried. But as long as she's safe..."

_"Keep a close eye on her, Mokuba-kun,"_ the computer warned. _"Sakura is a fragile kind of girl, in more ways than one. There's no telling what an experimental system like hers can do. There's already enough stress on her system thanks to that Level 9 Duel AI that your brother had her implanted with."_

Mokuba frowned. "...I know. Believe me, Sakura's safety is the biggest thing on my mind right now. I can't leave the island without Seto, so I have to stay here and figure out what's going on, and put a stop to it if necessary. I just have to make sure that Zero or Seto don't take Sakura away in the meantime."

Yugi groaned nearby, and Mokuba looked over. The boy was still sleeping, but he was restless. "Yugi was attacked by something dangerous. If it could hurt him this badly, it must be incredibly dangerous to normal players. I think Zero sent a powerful monster or player after us, and Yugi was caught in the crossfire."

Yugi tossed and turned again, and Mokuba watched sadly. "I wonder what he's seeing right now..."

  


--

  


"You cannot!" Pharaoh shouted. His powerful voice echoed throughout the great hall of his Egyptian palace. "I will not allow her to suffer such a fate because of your fear!"

High Priest Seto scowled at the Pharaoh's words. To insinuate that a priest was afraid was like spitting on the face of Ra himself. "Pharaoh, allow me to reiterate the importance of this. The slave's hidden powers could destroy Egypt and all her people. Her Ka's strength is beyond God. Even your divine powers would be put to the test if she were to release Exodia's sealed powers."

Pharaoh slammed his fist on the throne and jumped to his feet. His cape flapped as the roar of his power was heard. As his anger built, his shadow powers increased in strength. "I will never condemn a pure soul to the curse of immortal mummification. Such punishment is only to be used on the most dark and horrible demons and sorcerers. And never on a child!"

"The curse is the only ritual powerful enough to seal a God's host," Seto reminded him. "Juri's power is untapped because she lacks experience. But in a moment of rage, anyone can unleash their magical powers and manipulate their Ka. We must do everything in our power to stop Juri from releasing that power, accidentally or on purpose. This is the only way. No tomb or prison can hold a God at bay."

Pharaoh trembled. "But... Juri... she is but a child."

"She is a slave," Seto snapped. "Ra's love is not for them, and you are Ra's incarnation! You are acting foolish!"

The hall went deadly silent. The high priests were powerful in their own rights, but they all served Pharaoh and bowed to his will. But proud Seto always tested the Pharaoh's limits and always came dangerously close to unleashing his fury. However, Pharaoh could not punish Seto. His powers were too great, so his services were necessary. His value as a servant gave Seto power, and he knew it.

Pharaoh bit his tongue to hold back his rage. "I understand the dangers, Seto. But I know Juri personally from her tutorship under Simon. My powers let me see into the souls of all I encounter. She is the purest heart I have encountered... a living angel. She and I have discussed things during her studies that I have never discussed with anyone else. I... will never allow her to be punished because of Fate's hand."

Seto boldly took a step forward, which brought him onto the raised pedestal where Pharaoh's throne, and his magical seal of Sun and Moon, both rested. Seto's eyes locked with Pharaoh's, neither backing down with their intensity. Seto calmly leaned forward, as if bowing.

"She will be buried in the tomb of Ryou-ka," the priest said. "She will be bound within the sealing linens, marked with the three wards of the Gods via burning irons, then mummified alive with the magic-draining Scarabs. They will feast on her body and her soul for a millennium, until there is nothing left of her Ba except scarab dung. Only then will Exodia be vulnerable!"

_** FLASH!_"_You will_ not _harm Juri in any way! Do you understand!!" FLASH! **_

"NO!!" Pharaoh roared. A golden eye appeared on his forehead, signaling the awakening of the dark spirit within him, and the power that accompanied it. Osiris, the two-mouthed Dragon God, burst into existence as the young king summoned his powers. Seto was flung through the air by the wind wash created by the God's summoning. Several of the High Priests trembled in fear, for none of their powers could match that of Pharaoh when he was enraged.

"Stop!!" shouted the High Priestess possessing the Millennium Necklace. Isis Ishtar stepped onto the duel arena, where Seto and Pharaoh's dragon were. "We must not war amongst ourselves. We must decide our course of action and make haste. Soon, the Guilty Prince of the Orient will come. As a summoner, he will be protected by many guardians. They will be more than a match for our powers, and we must be ready to back up our claim on Juri. If the Prince proves her astrological lineage that deems her his bride, we will not be allowed to imprison her. The Gods would turn their backs on us."

"...If you imprison her then, a war between the Orient and Egypt will begin, costing many lives on both sides," the Pharaoh finished. "I refuse to allow Juri to suffer in vain, when her imprisonment will not only cause her eternal suffering, but spell doom for my people and the people under Prince Takato's protection." Pharaoh stepped forward, Osiris bowing as low as possible as the divine one passed. "You will obey my commands, High Priest Seto. Is that understood?"

Seto glowered, his face sweating lightly from the threat of Osiris. "...You are not thinking with a god's mind, my Lord. You are thinking with a man's lust." Seto stood, his hallowed cape whipping behind him, and left the great hall. Pharaoh glared at the priest, but made no move to attack him. Osiris remained bowed, until he was dispelled by the Pharaoh and returned to his tablet in the Veja Cathedral.

One of the high priests stepped forward, bowing his head to avoid gazing into the divine one's eyes. "My Lord. There is a risk that High Priest Seto will take matters into his own hands, as he has done before. The slave is in danger."

Pharaoh looked at his holy servants in the same way that a general looked at his soldiers. "Have Juri confined to my quarters for the time being. Place the two best details there to guard her. Isis?"

"Yes my Lord." The woman bowed.

"Care for her. Protect her with your powers. Your Ka has the best advantage against Seto's beasts."

Isis paused. Despite that "advantage", Seto was powerful beyond belief. His power was close to that of the Pharaoh's. It was rumored that Seto would one day be able to summon the Gods himself. Isis was strong... but she had doubts. Regardless, she bowed obediently. "Yes, my Lord. I will protect her with my life."

"...Thank you." Pharaoh looked across the great hall. Simon Muran, his caretaker and teacher, was waiting patiently there, a grim look on his face. "...I will prepare for the Guilty Prince's arrival."

  


[Mihira Dungeon]

  


The Dracoplasm blasted away one of the Growlmon's on the field, but no damage registered on Kaiba's Duel Ark. The attack was wasted on a powerless image. And now, during the time it took for Dracoplasm to recharge his special attack, Takato would act.

_Just as I thought. His dragon is made of that gooey junk, so it can't make any physical attack or defense moves that I have to worry about,_ Takato noted. _Which means I don't have to sit back and defend._ He chose one of the cards in his hand and slashed it, revealing it to be the "Rhinomon" card – an Armored digimon created from Patamon and the Golden Digiegg. Takato wasn't summoning it, so he didn't have to worry about the egg or the rookie. The armored, gold-plated rhino monster floated as a spirit into Growlmon and powered him up appropriately [ATK +500 / DEF +500 / SPD +5]. Growlmon now sported a golden horn on his head that looked sturdy and sharp. The illusionary Growlmon's disappeared in a flash.

"Charge!!" Growlmon pawed at the ground, and ran as fast as it could towards the enemy. Dracoplasm growled with delight and readied itself for a hit.

"Didn't I already tell you that was useless?" Kaiba said. "Dracoplasm will simply reform if you hit him."

"Only if he has enough power to reform!" Takato shot back. "So if I take out your Tribute monster, then your dragon won't be able to do anything but bite the dust!" Growlmon barreled across the field and slammed through the liquid dragon like a kid running through a waterfall. The dragon burst into millions of pieces and slowly started to reform, but this didn't stop Growlmon's charge. The dinosaur ran straight into the chained Blue Eyes Dragon and impaled it on the end of his golden horn. The creature's roar of pain was brief, and the dragon's death was instantaneous thanks to the weakness in its body. Dracoplasm roared angrily as its form started to dissolve and lose the precious green vapor that represented the power of the Tribute monster.

  


** _Current Attributes:_ ATK 0 / DEF 0 – Unable to regenerate. **

  


Kaiba chuckled. "Fool. You fell right into my trap. Shadow Spell!!" Kaiba's magic card activated the moment he slashed it, and sent out a storm of black chains that ensnared the massive Growlmon. The dinosaur roared and shrieked as its body was trapped, and the Dracoplasm began drawing from it as it had done the Blue Eyes Dragon. In short order, Growlmon's body was drained of its health, its energy, and its strength. The chains sprouted spines that punctured the Digimon's hide, signaling the change in status of Takato's monster. He was now a Tribute for the Dracoplasm.

"No...!" Takato could only watch painfully as his best friend was tortured by the chains of tribute. "Let him go!!"

"I can't do that," Kaiba answered with mild amusement. "You see, by trapping him and using him as a new Tribute for my monster, I can ensure that you won't be able to defend yourself against Dracoplasm's next attack."

Takato tried to remove Growlmon's card from the active slot, but a violent spark from the ark itself kept him from doing so. Takato gasped in pain and kissed the tips of his fingers where the spark had burnt him. He tried again, but the same thing happened. "Darn it! Why can't I switch monsters?"

"Because your current monster can't move," Kaiba pointed out. "He's under my control while those chains have him trapped. So I can use him as Tribute fodder for my monster and attack you directly." To prove his point, the Dracoplasm powered up and unleashed a powerful Pyro Blaster attack, mimicking the attack used by Growlmon. Takato yelled as an incredible amount of power rushed over him like a wave, and knocked him back with just as much force. The boy ended up a good fifteen feet away, flat on his back and dizzy from hitting his head on the ground so hard.

  


** **Takato's LP:** 600 **

  


"No!!" Jeri cried. She tried to run to him, but Veemon and Gatomon grabbed her arms and stopped her with some effort.

"Are you crazy!?" Veemon chided her. "You'll be killed if you run in there while they're blastin' away at each other! Your boy has that glove to protect him. You don't!"

"I don't care!" Jeri shouted. She squirmed her way out of the Digimon's grasp and ran to where Takato lay, still severely stunned. The girl gently touched his face, and spoke softly too him. "Takato...?"

"Jeri..." The boy's eyes were wet from the sudden shock to his system, and the feeling of impending defeat. "Run away... please..."

"I can't leave you behind," Jeri said. "I won't leave you behind." She remembered how much Takato and the others went through to save her from the D-Reaper, when they could have just as easily left her for dead and destroyed the monster by more forceful means. Her friends had risked all to save her at the risk of their own lives. She had to repay them. But, she... couldn't fight. If she tried, she was sure she would lose Takato the same way she lost Leomon.

"Jeri... run..." Takato cringed and pulled himself to a sit-up position. His head was ringing from the severe blow he'd received. He managed to stand up, and steadied himself. "Run!" he said more forcefully.

"No!!" Jeri shouted, but Takato was already moving. He raced to where he'd been standing before the attack, and pushed a button on his ark that forced Grani to be destroyed. The resulting explosion wiped out Growlmon as well, taking away the Tribute monster Dracoplasm had been using. Watching Growlmon die was hard, but Takato had no other choice but to fight. He refused to let Jeri down. She had to be saved from capture before Kaiba succeeded in killing him.

Time seemed to slow down. Jeri begged for Takato to stop. Takato summoned an Elecmon and ordered it to attack. Kaiba played another Tribute monster, quickly enough for Dracoplasm to absorb its power. Takato tried to stop the impending attack, but was too late. Elecmon was burned by the awesome power of Dracoplasm. Takato was hit by the resulting backlash, which sent a shock to his nervous system and knocked him off his feet. Jeri watched in horror as the boy she loved went limp, and slowly fell forward to the ground. He didn't move.

And that's when it happened.

  


[Elsewhere on the island...]

  


Zero looked up as his Ebon Puzzle let off a burst of light. He felt her as clear as day... the girl whom his Pharaoh host had chosen. The slave with Exodia in her heart... it was Juri.

_Kaiba has awakened her!_ Zero laughed and turned around, his cape slapping against the wind as he did. _And such power... she must be readying her shadow magic. Poor Kaiba is strong, but even his hatred may not stand against a spirit that has been imprisoned in Ryou-ka for so very long._ Zero called upon his own powers, and manipulated the digital world around him to the point where he could move at an incredible speed. Zero became a blur, using his shadow magic to run quickly through the digital landscape. _I will be there soon, Juri... sooner than your beloved Pharaoh. I will capture you myself and hold you as bait for the other Ka Bearers. Then, when all are gathered and fully awakened, Sakura can complete the task at hand and free Exodia for my ultimate purpose._

__Zero smirked to himself as the environment became a blur of digital world data. _It is time the spirits of the past paid for their crimes against Egypt. They will learn why only Nitemare could be the dark side of the Pharaoh, and the only true heir to the Gods of Egypt and Orient._

  


[Mihira Dungeon]

  


Kaiba wondered what changed in the figure before him. A moment ago, Takato was defending a little girl who seemed too scared to move. Now, the girl was standing like a woman who'd faced horrible things her entire life. The calmness in her step was unearthly.

"Too bad your little boyfriend isn't around to see you leave," Kaiba said. "Come on, kid. This is your last chance to come quietly. I'd rather carry an unconscious girl than a screaming one." To emphasize his point, Kaiba cracked the knuckles of his left hand by simply flexing his fingers a certain way. He then balled it into a fist. "Let's go."

Juri looked at Kaiba without fear, and waved her hand. The environment fizzled into particles of data, which then changed into the vague shape of jars. Four such jars formed out of nothing, and materialized in a row before the girl. Each jar looked exactly the same to the casual viewer, but each had a special purpose. Juri coldly looked up, and waited for Kaiba's reaction.

"So you can summon monsters without the Duel Ark..." he mused. "You must be "awakened" like Zero said you would be." Kaiba laughed and arched his back. "Excellent! I will test you myself! No way some little girl from the past will make a difference against my corporate empire!" Kaiba returned his gaze to Juri, and called his dragon into action after setting a new beast into the Tribute slot. "Dracoplasm! Attack with the Spear Dragon's energy! Steel Striker!!" [1900/0]

The rare Ka howled and unleashed a quick blast of energy that formed into a swarm of flying steel shards. The girl remained cold and motionless, like an angry statue of a goddess. The shards flew straight for Juri, but didn't get close enough to hit her. The shards hovered inches before the girl's face, before shooting straight into the third jar. The jar glowed silver for a moment, then flashed as it released the energy of the Steel Striker and sent it flying at Kaiba's monster.

"She reflected it!" Kaiba shouted. His dragon was stabbed by the white-hot shards of metal. The plasma hit by the attack was instantly incinerated, which resulted in damage for the beast. Dracoplasm growled, shocked that it had been damaged! [DP's HP: 2000 = 100]

Kaiba grimaced. That attack had taken a lot of health from his dragon, and the girl hadn't even made the attack! He did it to himself! "Damn jars... how did they reflect my dragon's attack?" Kaiba looked at his Duel Ark for information. But the screen of the ark was filled with nothing but static.

"What's going on?" Kaiba asked himself. When he looked up at his opponent again, he saw the most terrifying thing he could imagine. Hovering behind the girl was the translucent image of a great, golden spirit. That spirit was Exodia the Forbidden One. As the creature became visible, Juri's hair and dress flowed from a strong wind. Her powers were growing rapidly.

Kaiba's eyes were locked on the girl, and his cries were stuck in his throat. He was truly afraid. "It can't... be..."

The girl smiled like a fiend. "Se... to...." Her voice echoed like that of a banshee, readying her cry of death. Juri let loose with an ear-splitting shriek, and Exodia's power flared to life. The great god shot his arm forth and spread his hand, just before releasing the devastating blast that could obliterate anything in his path. The Dracoplasm was unable to flee, and unable to survive. Kaiba and the beast were surrounded by Exodia's awesome power.

"AAGGGHHHHHhhhh....!!" Kaiba's cry echoed through the halls of Mihira Dungeon, just before the dungeon itself exploded from the pent up energies inside it. Exodia's presence howled in pleasure as destruction reigned around it. And at the center of all this destruction, was the little girl in the green dress, her eyes filled with demonic rage.

Juri was free. And soon, she would have her revenge.

  


** Music reaches a crescendo upon Juri's release, then disappears in a flash. **

** The silence is deafening. **

  


[Kulu Forest || 1:05 PM]

There were Digi-Gnomes here. That was the first thing that Rika noticed when she and Ash found this clearing. After winning two Crests from two different Dungeons, the two decided to find a place to rest for the afternoon. Ash offered to find something edible if Rika started the camp, so Rika was trying to set up a fire. That is, until she saw the Digi-Gnomes playing in the area. The moment she saw them, she ran towards them, shouting questions about Who and Where and How. But as she got close, they disappeared into the trees like ghosts. Rika chased a few others in the area, but they too fled the scene.

After a while, Rika realized that they couldn't be actual Digi-Gnomes. You had to be in the Digital World to see a Digi-Gnome, and there was no way for anyone to get there now. The Red Card's program, combined with the ambient energies of that digital plane, would kill anyone who tried to go through a portal. Seeing those Digi-Gnomes was just a grim reminder of the fact that Rika and the others had been forced to accept. The Digital World, and their Digimon, were gone forever. There was no way back.

Now, Rika was sitting on a stump in the middle of the forest. Her thoughts were on the past, when she was a Digimon Tamer, and had an ever-present shadow that protected her from everything while asking for nothing. Rika never deserved Renamon, but she accepted her presence and servitude so easily, that it never occurred to her that Renamon could one day leave. Renamon was Rika's shadow – a cool, confident adult who saw the world with crystal clarity, knew exactly what she had to do to succeed, and did so with infinite grace. Rika, on the other hand, barely knew how to handle one boy. Renamon was the woman that Rika couldn't bring herself to be.

A single tear slid down Rika's cheek. She wanted Renamon back. She wanted to be respected by everyone. She wanted to become a woman. She wanted all those things, but she couldn't have them. She couldn't evolve into the kind of grown-up girl that Ryo seemed to want. And she doubted she could be a grown-up that would appeal to a sweet, sporty guy like Ash. All she could be was a child with a big mouth and a redhead's temper. No guy wanted a child for a girlfriend.

Rika's heart was heavy. She gasped rhythmically as she tried to hold back her tears. But slowly, her strength gave way. She cried to herself, and let her weakness be revealed to the world, even though nobody was close enough to witness.

Slowly, Rika regained some composure. She thought about Ash, and how embarrassing it would be if he walked in all of a sudden and saw her crying like that. Rika refused to let anyone see her cry as openly as she just had – not even Henry, who knew things about her that no guy should know. She didn't let herself cry in front of him for more than a second, as she had done over the phone a day ago. She didn't even cry in front of her mother.

Rika sighed. She felt a little better, but not much. Her mind was stuck on the painful subject of boys – two boys, in particular. Ryo had shown Rika what it was to be in an adult relationship, even though neither of them were technically adults. Ryo tried to bring their relationship into the physical arena, but Rika refused to take it that far, and fighting ensued because of that. Rika liked the digimon cowboy for his roguish behavior and his ability to make her smile, but she hated his cavalier attitude towards love and the specialness of their relationship. It seemed that Ryo cared only about the physical aspects – kissing, holding hands, and the more adult forms of interaction.

Then there was Ash, this boy that Rika just met, and couldn't act normal around. At first, she thought Ash was just a kid, compared to the teenage Ryo. But as they talked and interacted, Rika started to see Ash for what he really was – a person like her, on the verge of growing up but not quite there. Ash lived the life of a wanderer, and had the same wild aspect that drew Rika to Ryo in the first place. But at the same time, Ash had a dark side caused by his friend, Misty, being injured by his rival in the sport that he loved. Ash saw Misty in Rika, and as a result saw a friend in her. But what else did he see? 

And best of all, Ash was sweet. Ryo never mastered the art of sweetness. He called Rika his "pumpkin" a lot, and treated her nicely on occasion, but there was always that physical aspect underlining his words. He would hold her, and nuzzle her, and kiss her while he said those things. Ash, on the other hand, hadn't done anything remotely like that to her since they met. And all this time, Rika expected him to violate her privacy in some perverted manner.

Rika sighed. She didn't know how she felt anymore. She loved Ryo and hated him, and yet she felt something for Ash too – maybe the kind of lust that Ryo felt for her. Lust!? Rika shook the word from her head. Lust was too strong a word for children, and yet she couldn't think of another word to describe her feelings. She wanted to be as close to Ash as this Misty was, and she wanted to touch him. Not any place dirty, but she wanted to hold his hand and sit close to him. That was Lust too, right? 

No, it wasn't! Lust was dirty and obscene! But it wasn't Love! Love was a spiritual thing. Lust was a physical thing. That's all that made them different. There was nothing else. Right?

Rika was so confused. She sighed again, and purposefully fell back and lay on the ground. She had to release these feelings of sadness and confusion somehow. And if she couldn't do it through crying, she had to do something else. So Rika did the first thing that came to mind. She started to sing a song – the song she heard her mother singing when she was thinking about her father. She lost herself in the skies above, as the wind caused the trees to gently sway back and forth.

_~ Never knew, I could feel like this. Like I've never, seen the sky before... ~_

Her voice was quiet at first. She whispered the words, her tune trembling as her tears threatened to flow again. Rika controlled herself by taking a deep breath. She continued the song, still slow but with more force in her words.

_~ I want to vanish inside your kiss. Every day I love you more and more. ~_

--

  


Ash stabbed a pocket knife into an apple he found in a tree, and tasted it. The sweet taste of fresh fruit filled his mouth. He hungrily took a bite from the apple himself, and found that it was juicy and luscious. It was a _good_ apple.

"I guess holographic food is good too," Ash shrugged. He tossed one of the smaller apples to his pet Chikorita. "What do you think?" 

Chikorita twitched its head-leaf, and took a baby bite from the apple. It let out a satisfied "chiiii..." and took several more bites from the fruit. The virtual pet was smiling brightly.

"Yeah, these are really good." Ash took another big bite from his apple, and picked up the bag he'd filled with all the fruits they found on their search. "Come on. Let's get these back to camp. Rika's probably finished setting up the fire." Chikorita nodded and followed.

Ash lugged the bag down the make-shift trail that Chikorita had made with its Razor Leaf. The bag was full of fruit and rather heavy, but Ash positioned his bag on his shoulder so that it was easier to carry the bulk without getting tired as quickly. Ash had to take a slower pace to keep his balance, but he didn't mind. Chikorita needed him to go slow so that it could keep up. Its teeny-tiny legs forced it to run to match the pace of a walking human.

Half way down the road, Chikorita stopped. Ash paused and looked over his free shoulder. "What's the matter?"

Chikorita turned its head towards the brush, and turned it sideways to listen. "Chi-kah?"

"I don't hear anything." Chikorita hissed, as if telling him to shush, and continued listening. Ash remained quiet, and listened impatiently. Slowly, he heard what had gotten Chikorita's attention. 

~ _Listen to my heart, can you hear, it sings... Telling me, to give you every~thing... ~_

_~ Seasons may change, winter to spring. But I love you, until the end... of time. ~_

~ _Come, what may~! Come, what may~! I, will love you, until my dy~ing... day... ~_

It was a beautiful singing voice – the most beautiful he'd ever heard. He'd heard people sing, but never had he heard someone sing with so much emotion. This person – this girl – was singing her heart out. But why? Who was it?

"Chi-kah!" the pokemon snapped. It rushed towards the direction of the voice for a few feet, then turned and bounced up and down.

Ash was about to drop his bag and follow, but his instincts took over. He stopped himself. "...We can't. Its none of our business."

Chikorita puffed its cheeks, and glared with chibi-fied intensity. "Chi-KAH!" it pouted.

"I said No," Ash snapped. "Now let's go, or you're going back into the pokeball." Ash turned and started walking down the path. When he looked to make sure Chikorita was following, it ran into the woods!

"Hey, come back!" The pokemon refused to stop, so Ash dropped his bag and ran after it. It wasn't difficult to catch up to Chikorita, but the moment he grabbed at it, it dodged with its unnatural quickness. Ash tried again, but again he failed.

"...You're really irritating me," Ash warned. "Now, come here!" He held out his pokeball, and released the red beam that would re-capture his pokemon.

The moment the beam got close, Chikorita jumped to the side and avoided it. Ash tried again, but again Chikorita dodged. Ash tried three more times, and three more times Chikorita evaded the capture beam. The little pokemon smirked and wagged its behind, taunting its trainer.

Ash frowned, and pocketed his pokeball. "Fine. We'll go see who it is. But it's not like I care."

"Chi," the pokemon said, sarcastically agreeing. Chikorita sprinted in the direction of the singing, and Ash followed at a slower pace.

  


--

  


Rika stared into the sky, and imagined that there was some kind of heavenly being beyond the sky, staring back at her. She pretended that someone out there was watching her, and it was someone she trusted implicitly. It was like pretending that Renamon was there, watching over her again.

"... I think, that I like you," she said, using the imaginary person as a mirror. "I don't know whether I'm wrong for feeling this way or not. But... I want to hold you and feel your warmth."

Rika slowly blinked her eyes, and they sparkled with sadness. "I need you, Ash."

There was a footstep. Rika's heart skipped a beat. Someone was here!

"Are you okay?" Ash walked over, slowly stopped at her head and looked down at her.

Rika stared up at him, her face a little flush. "I... I, um..." Had he heard her daydreaming!?

Ash blinked, and cocked his head. "Was that you singing?" A green pokemon on Ash's shoulder squeaked to emphasize the question.

He heard her gawd-awful singing! Rika panicked for a moment, but managed to recover her senses. She sat up and put on her Too-Tough-to-Care act. "N-no!" she said quickly. "Only little girls who go to church in little pink dresses sing. That's not my style."

Ash frowned. "Oh. I guess the girl just passed through." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm not much of a singer either. But I'll sing if someone else sings with me."

Rika considered that. Did Ash like girls who sang? She quickly threw that thought away. There was no way she could sing beautifully enough to impress a guy. 

"Typical boy answer." Rika heard Ash laughing yet again, and gave him a stern look. "What's so funny?"

"You must've hit the ground hard. Your hair shifted." 

Rika felt her ponytail, and indeed it had shifted. Rather than pointing back and upwards like normal, it was sharply angled to the left. It looked like a waterspout. Oh, she must've looked ridiculous!

"I-It's not funny!" Rika growled and tried to fix her hair, but the darn thing didn't want to bend back into place. She felt like she was going to die from embarrassment.

Ash put a firm hand on her shoulder, which practically paralyzed Rika with surprise. "What are you-"

"Shhh," he said simply. Rika promptly went silent. Ash slowly raised his other hand, while Chikorita watched curiously from his left shoulder. Ash brought his hand to Rika's hair band, and removed it. Rika's hair fell with gravity, but the sharp angle in her hair caused the tips of the hair to poke out the sides. Since her ponytail was made from both sides of the back of her head, the angled tips spread out more or less evenly. The result was a hair-style that actually looked like it was constructed in a barber shop through a perm.

"There. Now you look like Sora," Ash teased. "She's one of the cartoon characters, right?"

Rika gulped. Ash's hands were still on her shoulders. She just knew her face was too red to hide. She'd never felt more out of control of a situation, and yet she never felt better. "Y-yeah. She's one of the Digidestined. Her hair didn't really look like this until the 2nd season though."

Inwardly, Rika cringed. _I can't believe I just said that. I sound like one of those otaku freaks._

Ash's smile faded a bit. "Sorry for messing with your hair, but... For a second... you looked too much like Misty. And... I'm trying not to think about her right now."

Rika looked into his eyes. Ash was lost in thoughts of Misty, somewhere far away in a hospital, trying to regain the use of her legs after that near-death experience caused by her last Pokemon battle. His eyes were filled with guilt. Poor Ash... it was almost like he blamed himself for what happened.

Rika realized that she'd been given her sign. She knew Ash's kind of girl – the kind of girl she'd have to be to get his attention. The only girl on his mind was Misty.

"You don't want me to look like her?" Rika asked softly.

"...No." Ash put his hands back in his pockets and resumed a casual stance. "I guess it sounds a little weird, but... I don't know. It kind of scares me that you and her look so much alike sometimes. Sometimes, I think I'd mistake you for her and do something embarrassing. I might hug you like I did when we first met. Or worse."

Rika smiled lightly. "Yeah. We don't want that to happen."

Ash's seriousness faded. He laughed and nudged Chikorita with his cheek. The pokemon nuzzled back. "Anyway, I found a whole lot of fruit that'll make a great lunch. We'll be stuffed so much, we won't be able to move until tomorrow!"

"Great..." Rika followed Ash as he and Chikorita raced back to the path, with Ash going much slower than normal, as if he were racing a child. Rika watched them, and smiled gently.

_A guy like you _would_ fall in love with your best friend. _Rika raced after the two, threatening to overtake them if they were too slow. _But just you wait Ash Ketchum. Rika Nonaka doesn't give up without a fight._

  


--

  


Later that day, Rika spoke to Henry via cell phone. They discussed the day's events, how they felt about the tournament in general, and how far they'd progressed. Henry talked about Joey and their strange partnership, and Henry's battle with the fake Jeri, aka Duplica Imite the Ditto Trainer. Rika talked about Ash Ketchum, and how they'd acquired the Makura Crest [monkey] and the Indra Crest [horse] in two different Dungeons. Rika remembered the battles with those respective Devas like they were yesterday, and was surprised to say that the Dungeon battles were just as difficult, if not more. This island was testing her skills, and she actually felt like she was growing. Henry honestly agreed.

_"This island is like one big training camp,"_ Henry suggested. _"It's like Zero Muto set up this tournament to test our skills, and force us to adapt to the different game rules, battle strategies, and role-playing scenarios. This entire island is one big puzzle, and we're the pieces. He's got some ulterior motive, I know it."_

"Do you think he's working on some project for Industrial Illusions?" Rika wondered. She leaned back, allowing her body to soak in the coolness of the pond. This was her bath for the day. Even though she was naked in the wilderness, she felt very comfortable just relaxing there. Maybe it was because Ash promised to watch for strangers in the area. And she wasn't afraid of a virtual rodent like Pikachu or a... thing like Cyndaquil seeing her in the buff.

_"I think he's building an army to conquer someone."_

"Get serious." Rika rubbed some water along her arms, trying to clean away the dried blood from a cut she'd earned in her first battle on the island.

_"I am serious. Think about Rika. Why go to all this trouble to create an island with so much interactivity and danger? He's not just making a friendly competition for 13 and a half trillion Yen. He's training us to be better Tamers."_

Rika groaned. "Listen to yourself for a second, Wong. This is a GAME. It's competitive and a little dangerous, but so is soccer and wrestling. Those guys aren't being trained for recruitment, are they?"

_"Soccer players and wrestlers don't have holographic monsters that can kill people or destroy cities."_

"Okay, okay, fine. Let's assume for a second that you're right – that Zero is training an island full of gamers to be super-skilled masters of monster battling, and that somehow he has a way to make us obey him. What then? What world are we conquering?"

_"...Maybe we're conquering the Digital World."_

Rika looked at the phone and shook her head in disbelief before dignifying that with a reply. "You need to take a nap."

_"Hear me out, Rika."_ Rika groaned and relented, giving him her silent confirmation. Henry continued. _"Have you taken off your Duel Ark yet?"_

"Yes. In fact, I'm not wearing it right now." She glanced at the device, which was lying on her clothes pile a few feet away. "So?"

_"...Have you felt any different with it off? I mean besides having less weight on your wrist."_

Rika searched her mind for any relevant feelings, but found none. "Not really. Does this have a point to it?"

_"Haven't you noticed? While you were wearing the ark, you didn't feel hungry or thirsty until you really thought about the time of day being lunch time?"_

"So you're basing your entire Zero Army theory on my appetite?"

_"...Fine, I have a better one for you. You're taking a bath, right?"_

"Yeah."

_"Put on your Duel Ark."_

Rika sighed. "...Henry."

_"Please, just do it."_

Rika groaned, and reached over to grab the device. With some effort, she grabbed it without stepping out of the pond, and slid it onto her arm. "There, it's on. If I get electrocuted, my ghost is coming back to haunt you."

_"...Now, just stay underwater for as long as you can. Try to imagine yourself as a fish or something, or pretend that you don't breath."_

"...You want me to hold my breath?"

_"Yes. Time yourself."_

"I don't have to be taking a bath to do that. I can just hold my breath right now."

_"That's true. But I want you to try and breathe the water like it was air."_

Rika growled. "Henry, you're really starting to piss me off. If this is some kind of joke, you're going to be sorry. I'm going to choke on water with goose crap in it, and it's because of your theories."

_"I know it sounds strange, but trust me. It'll work. I've done it myself."_

Rika was still waiting for the punchline, but she knew it wouldn't come until she came out of the water sputtering. She figured she should get it out of the way so she can return to her relaxing and decide what kind of revenge to get on Henry. "Okay. I'm putting the phone aside. If I don't answer, it's because I've drowned in four feet of water."

_"I'll be waiting."_ Rika put the phone aside, made sure her Duel Ark was active from her body heat and movements, and dunked her head into the water.

She floated inside the shallow pond for a few seconds, then turned so that her face was looking down to the bottom. Rika kept her eyes tightly shut, since water tended to sting her eyes even if it was clean. Slowly, Rika opened her mouth, exhaled slowly, and breathed in at a steady rate. She waited for the expected choke and cough.

But none came. The water passed into her, and her lungs filled as if she'd taken a deep breath of air.

Rika repeated the process, surprised but still in control of herself. She exhaled, and inhaled again, getting the same result. She continued breathing like this, and her breathing never halted or sputtered. She did this for three minutes before she opened her eyes.

When she did, the water was dark and murky. The dirt from the bottom rose and fell as she kicked around, causing even more murkiness. As Rika looked around though, she considered her situation. Henry told her to imagine herself as being able to breath underwater, and it worked. What else could she imagine and do?

Rika imagined the water clearing. She imagined all the silt and dirt disappearing like dust in the wind, and the water becoming crystal clear to the point where you could see to the other side. Rika turned and looked towards the pond's end, roughly thirty meters away, and imagined the water becoming perfectly clear.

Slowly, the water responded to her will. In a few seconds, Rika was able to see clearly for several inches, then several feet, then several meters, and so on until the entire lake seemed to crystallize. Rika was able to see tiny fish swimming about, grazing on bugs and microscopic plants as most fish did. She saw the occasional water lizard moving about, though not in her direction. Rika admired the pond's spectacular clarity, and swam through the water at a sedate pace as she breathed in and out. She was scuba-diving without scuba gear, and she loved it.

_There's only one explanation,_ Rika thought. She remembered a story that Henry and Takato told her from when they were all real Tamers. About how they were able to imagine themselves as being able to breathe underwater, and were successful in doing so. This allowed them to traverse a dangerous lake... in the Digital World. _This is the Digital World! The ark has taken me across the Red Barrier! I'm really here!!_

Rika's joy was cut short when she heard a rush of water ahead of her. Rika looked intently, and saw the vague outline of a creature with many writhing tentacles and a sea blue body. It was an undersea monster, not unlike a jellyfish, but much bigger and much meaner looking thanks to its fierce eyes. Rika's Duel Ark reacted and displayed the monster's data.

TENTACRUEL (Wild)  
** Level 45 Water Pokemon  
** ATK 1636 / DEF 1541 / SPD 22  
== Field Power Bonus +30% (Underwater)  
== _ATK 2127 / DEF 2003 / SPD 29_  
** "Its 80 tentacles absorb water and stretch almost endlessly to _Constrict_ its prey and enemies."  


  


Rika grimaced, causing bubbles to snake their way from her mouth. _A monster? Attacking me now, of all times?_

The pokemon snaked a dozen of its tentacles towards her, and ensnared her arms and legs quite easily. Rika was drawn towards its maw; the creature seemed to think that she was its prey for the day. The tamer wasn't planning on becoming some Poke-Food, so she triggered her ark's Life Point Barrier with the flick of her wrist. Not only did her barrier knock the tentacles away from her, but a new set of clothes covered her body instantly. The creature's tentacles were knocked aside, and Rika shot backwards in the water until she was a safe distance away.

  


**** Rika's LP:** 4000 || **Tentacruel's HP:** 2300 **

**** _Battle Music: [Final Fantasy X, boss battle] _****

  


_Alright... LPB is activated... holographic system is primed... auto-shuffle is complete. I'm ready!_ Rika drew five cards and played her opening monster, an insect digimon named Kunemon. [1200 / 1700, SPD 36]

Kunemon got the jump on the bobbing fish and attacked it instantly, by blasting it with a stream of web that floated through the water like a fisherman's net. Kunemon's attack scored a direct hit and ensnared the pokemon, making it impossible for the creature to move its tentacles efficiently.

Tentacruel was motionless in the web trap, but he was far from helpless. The sea creature's mouth changed into a strange shape, and the water around its orifice started to move around rapidly, like a whirlpool. The water built up with kinetic energy until it was launched as a powerful blast. It was Tentacruel's "Water Gun" attack!

Rika quickly reacted, since the special move would crush the little Kunemon. She slashed her Harpymon card, sending out a spiritual version of the Champion to defend against the attack. Harpymon shot into the line of fire like a bullet, and was slammed by the Water Gun attack. The Digimon's armor absorbed enough of the impact to save Kunemon from damage. Kunemon was knocked back by the force of the Water Gun blast, but was able to recover quickly.

Rika slashed another monster card – her "Snimon" card – and combined it with Kunemon to grant it Snimon's special attack. Kunemon's rear end grew into a massive two-pronged tail with Snimon's sickles attached to it, giving the rookie the look of a mutant scorpion or pincer bug. Kunemon charged with its tail, and used its "Sharp Edge" attack to cut into Tentacruel's defense. Tentacruel's tough hide was sliced and weakened by the double-edged attack, and it became vulnerable [TC's DEF: 2003 == 1002]

_If I keep this up, I can defeat it,_ Rika thought surely. _Without its natural armor, it won't be able to resist my attacks, and that web is still keeping it from moving. It's a sitting duck._

Tentacruel wasn't through yet. The Pokemon's eyes flashed silver for a second, and Kunemon was caught by the creature's gaze.

Rika's Duel Ark screamed in alarm, and revealed the attack for what it was – a Supersonic blast that had confused her Kunemon! And while it was Confused, Rika couldn't control it!

Kunemon swam around, and it attacked Rika directly with its massive sickle tail. The girl was unprepared for the sudden assault, and cried out in pain as her shield and her body were struck. Even with the attack's strength reduced by the Life Point Barrier, Rika was affected by the attack as if a real knife had sliced her. The lower half of the front of Rika's shirt fell away, revealing a fresh cut just below her chest. It wasn't deep enough to be a serious threat, but it stung like hell.

**** Rika's LP:** 2800 **

  


Kunemon swam about, totally confused and unaware of what was going on. When it's energy recharged, it would try to attack her again. Even if it didn't attack Rika, the tamer was in serious trouble without Kunemon there to defend her. Tentacruel might break free from its web prison, or it might use another special attack to attack even though it was motionless.

Rika had an idea, though. Regardless of what kind of powers Tentacruel had, almost all special attacks required line of sight to be used. If Tentacruel couldn't see her, it wouldn't be able to get a clear shot at her. So if Rika could get out of the creature's sight, she could save herself from his attacks and focus her attention on her own monster.

Rika kicked her legs, and focused her thoughts on swimming as fast as possible. If this was really the Digital World, and her thoughts could manipulate herself and her relationship to the digital environment, she could move quicker than normal too. The tamer kicked hard, and let her thoughts carry her through the water. Rika dashed through the water like a marlin, swimming around Tentacruel in half a second. Tentacruel tried to attack with another Water Gun, but Rika was fast enough to avoid it. The tamer came to a stop behind the paralyzed Pokemon, and hovered as she eyed Kunemon warily.

_There's no telling when he'll regain control of himself,_ Rika thought as Kunemon swam around her and Tentacruel like a bird of prey. _I can swim around pretty quickly, but so can Kunemon. And he's a monster, so he's much faster than I am._ Kunemon still had a couple seconds until he recharged, so Rika quickly reloaded her hand and looked for a card that could help her.

The moment Kunemon made a move towards her, Rika slashed one of the cards she drew. _I can't play a monster, but I can still protect myself!_ The ghostly image of Impmon appeared, and he shot through the water just before curling into a fetal position. Kunemon slashed Impmon to ribbons, and had enough power behind the attack to harm Rika even after her sacrifice.

  


** **Rika's LP:** 2700 **

  


_I'm sorry, Impmon,_ Rika thought. She loved the little guy, even though he was irritating when he was around. _I think I've figured out a way to take this situation by the horns._

Rika swam over to the trapped Tentacruel, and wrapped her arms around its head as best she could. The Pokemon flailed its tentacles wildly at her, trying to get a clean hit on her while she was so close. Rika batted away the tentacles as they got close, while trying to keep her eye on the circling Kunemon.

_If he tries to attack me again, I can jump off of Tentacruel and he'll run right into it. Then I can hit him from behind with a slashed card. _Rika waited, keeping her eyes on her Digimon and her hands and feet moving so that Tentacruel couldn't grab them.

But unfortunately, she wasn't as fast as the Pokemon. One of the tentacles managed to grab her by the ankle, and another one got Rika's opposite wrist. The tentacles pulled hard, and Rika was drawn into a spread-eagle position on the creature's back. Tentacruel couldn't constrict her while her Life Point Barrier was active, but that didn't seem to be its plan. The Pokemon's tentacles grabbed at her other wrist and ankle, completely trapping her on its back. Tentacruel was unable to swim, but now Rika couldn't move either.

_It... it knows what I was was trying to do!_ Rika exclaimed. _Kunemon's going to hit me full-force! _And without her hands, Rika couldn't slash any card to defend herself!

Kunemon circled around and charged straight for Rika, its fangs bared as it readied its attack. Kunemon put on a burst of speed, ready to pierce Rika's body like a harpoon. Even if her barrier remained active, there was a good chance that Kunemon's fangs would make her bleed to death. Rika would be dead before her Life Points reached zero.

Kunemon's attack came within inches of Rika before the Digimon was knocked aside by a powerful Water Gun. Rika's head jerked in the direction of the attack's source. Floating there was a happy little alligator, doing a strange and hyperactive dance underwater. And floating behind it was a trainer!

_Ash!_ Rika struggled against the tentacles as Kunemon circled around to complete its attack. Ash and his Totodile swam through the water as fast as they could and entered the fray. Totodile tackled Kunemon and wrestled it as best he could, allowing Ash to swim over and help Rika. The trainer pulled out a pocket knife, twirled it around until the blade came out, and sliced at the tentacles until Tentacruel let go of Rika willingly. Rika jumped from the Pokemon as Ash did the same thing. 

Tentacruel was now pissed, and it showed as he powered up another special ability. The Pokemon's jelly skin reverberated and burst with light as it activated its "Barrier", which more than doubled its current Defense and had the side effect of destroying the webbing ensnaring the creature. Tentacruel turned around and eyed the two humans hungrily [TC's DEF: 1002 == 2402].

Meanwhile, Totodile's attacks were enough to free Kunemon from his confused state. Kunemon swam to Rika's side as Totodile swam to Ash's. The tamer looked fondly at her savior, and noticed something with a start.

_He's not wearing his ark... that means he has no barrier to protect himself!_ Rika didn't know why Ash was here at all, but in his rush to get here he must've forgotten his ark. So not only was he unprotected, but he was unable to breath. He was holding his breath as best he could, while swimming fiercely and keeping his eyes on the battle and his Pokemon. Totodile must've been summoned from his pokeball directly, rather than summoned with his card.

Ash motioned to the surface, and Rika quickly agreed. Both children swam towards the top, Rika going faster thanks to the Duel Ark channeling her thoughts in the same way her old Digivice could. She tried to take Ash's hand on the way up, but the boy was pulled out of her reach by one of Tentacruel's tentacles. Ash was dragged under, and a wave of bubbles flew from his mouth. He was almost out of air!

Rika wasted no time. She looped vertically like a dolphin and zoomed towards the bottom of the lake where the battle was taking place. Ash was ensnared by a dozen tentacles as Tentacruel tried to drown the mammal. Totodile fought uselessly against the creature's superior defenses and its swarm of slimy arms. Just when Ash looked like he was about to pass out, Rika shot into Tentacruel's embrace and gripped Ash tightly. Without a pause, the tamer put her mouth on the trainer's and breathed deeply.

Rika's eyes were closed, but Ash's were wide open. Ash's lungs filled with air, and continued to do so as if Rika had a limitless supply. The tentacles threatened to crush the life out of him, but Rika was more than making up for it by extending her barrier to protect Ash from the constriction, as well as giving him plenty of oxygen to survive on. 

Considering the situation, the kiss was surprisingly enjoyable. Ash slowly closed his eyes, and let Rika revive him.

Eventually, Rika backed off enough to look Ash straight in the eye. Ash nodded in thanks. Rika motioned to her arms with several head nods. Ash figured she was referring to her Duel Ark. While Rika was reviving the trainer, she'd been ensnared by the Pokemon's tentacles, and her body was pulled as close to his as physically possible. Her arms were now trapped at his sides, and she couldn't slash any cards. Kunemon and Totodile were fighting as hard as they could. But without outside help, the monsters would be unable to beat Tentacruel.

Ash didn't have to slash any cards to turn the tides, though. One of his arms was trapped at his side as well, which meant he could grab a pokeball from his belt and open it. The capture beam would shoot out the bottom of the tentacle swarm, and the pokemon would appear on the lake floor, ready for battle. Now that he knew Rika was safe, and her Kunemon was no longer out of her control, Ash could attack Tentacruel with his full power. Ash knew his Pokemon and their pokeballs by heart, so he fished around his belt until he found the one he wanted, and pressed the button that would release the Pokemon inside.

The capture beam descended to the ocean floor, and the legendary Pokemon named Lugia appeared. The holy beast crooned like a whale, and slowly swooped through the water until it was within wing-range of the Tentacruel. It smacked the creature with enough force to stun it, allowing Rika and Ash to swim free with some effort.

  


[Lugia (pokemon) - Level 85 Water Pokemon / Hoen Legend] 

  


Rika was amazed at the Pokemon's size and strength. When she looked at Ash questioningly, the trainer smiled and winked.

Lugia finished the assault with a blast of water even stronger than the Tentacruel's Water Gun. It was like the Water Gun was a one-shot pistol, while this attack was a rail cannon. Rika's ark identified the attack as a "Hydro Pump", which more than doubled Lugia's base attack strength thanks to the amount of water it collected and focused. Even though a Water-type like Tentacruel could resist a lot of water, Lugia's power was more than enough to blow the creature out of the lake and send it flying through the skies of Monster Island. The Pokemon flew a few hundred meters before crashing into the camp of an unlucky contender trying to take a nap.

Ash held up two of his pokeballs, and both of his Pokemon returned to their proper containers. Kunemon disappeared as the Duel Ark powered down. When the kids decided it was safe, they returned to the surface and crawled out of the water. Rika was completely dry, while Ash was soaking wet and very tired.

"That wasn't very tenta-cool, was it," Rika quipped. Ash nodded, and promptly slumped to the ground from exhaustion.

  



	7. Death! The Forgotten King

  


**** Monster Duel Ex - Current Standings - Day One ****

**_Crests Captured:_** 9 of 12.  
  
**_Two Crests_**  
Kao Umbreon (Santira [snake], Vajra [bull])  
Bones Kazuka (Vikarala [pig], Kunbira [rat])  
  
**_One Crest_**  
Rika Nonaka (Makura [monkey])  
Ash Ketchum (Indra [horse])  
Takato Matsuki (Mihira [tiger])  
Henry Wong (Antira [hare])  
Joey Wheeler (Pajira [sheep])

~ ~ ~ ~

  


[Shogun Gecko Village || Central || 7:41 PM]

  


Henry closed his eyes, and the Duel Ark triggered in response to his motions. Slowly he curled his arms before him, bringing his opened palm to rest beside his face. He slid his right foot a few inches, and curled his knee until his leg was in the exact position he wanted it to be. Henry paused for a second, then swung his arm mightily while shooting hot breath from his nose. His hand sliced the air and came to a sudden halt. Henry turned with exacting grace, and threw a punch as he continued his martial arts kata. Henry's body moved on its own; he'd done this practice for so long, he could do it in his sleep. But while his body moved, his mind moved faster. 

_This is the Digital World. There's no question about it. This island's resolution is so high, that I feel like I'm dreaming. The colors are so vivid._ Henry punched and dragged his foot through the dirt as he entered the second quarter of his dance.

_We were made to believe that the island and its inhabitants were holograms, created for our amusement. But they're not. They're digital life forms. _Another punch. Henry kicked, and dirt flew through the air. For a moment, Henry could see the dirt moving so slowly that he could count each individual particle before the batch hit the ground. Henry's mind shook away the effect, and the dirt fell to the ground almost instantly. He shouldn't be able to do that. Nevertheless, that was why he was doing this kata. He was warming up his body and mind for a real test of the Duel Ark and its limits.

_Ryo was the first of us to realize the nature of the Digital World. He told us when we first met him. _Another punch, another kick.

_Renamon also explained its nature to us upon our arrival. Our first taste of it was when we found ourselves walking through nothingness. Jeri began to wonder which way was down, and only when she picked a direction did gravity kick in. From there, we learned more of the Digital World's nature. We learned that as data, our bodies were nothing more than extensions of our minds, and extensions of the data floating around us. We could do anything we wanted, as long as we were willing to try._

As Henry reached the end of his dance, he resumed it from the first step and increased the speed at which he moved. With each punch, kick, and twirl, his body loosened up and his mind released its constraints. Martial arts, the art of taking your body and mind to the ultimate levels, was the natural path to take when experimenting with something like this. Henry just had to push himself, and he'd be ready to learn about these devices.

_What limits do we have? Can we use our thoughts to create anything we want? Do anything we want? How strong can the machines be?_ Henry started to sweat, but he ignored his fatigue. If he ignored his fatigue, it might go away just like the need for food and water. Henry continued his kata, and when he reached the end he increased his speed yet again. Now he was moving quickly, dashing in circles and attacking invisible foes. Sweat lined his face and fell as he danced. The Duel Ark hummed, and continued to increase its power output. The ark was giving him the strength to continue, when normally he would have collapsed.

_These monsters can kill us without a thought. What could they do if someone used it on a person off the island. Someone without an ark to protect them?_ Henry sped up still further, moving at blinding speed until he punched the air with finality. He was motionless, panting and sweating from his exertion. Slowly, he stood up straight and looked down at his gloved hand.

_These arks... they're not just for a game. They're tools of war. I'm sure of it._

Henry looked down at his Duel Ark, and slowly drew the top card of his deck. It was "Musyamon", a Champion level warrior designed like a samurai and given decent statistics. The monster bowed low as its body crackled with lightning, signifying its weakness from being summoned without digivolving it normally. Even outside of battle, it was unable to avoid being weakened. Henry stared at the silent creature and considered its nature.

"What are you," Henry said firmly.

The Duel Ark displayed a data readout. MUSYAMON. CARD NUMBER ST-20. DEMON MAN DIGIMON. CHAMPION VIRUS TYPE. 

Henry frowned and pressed a series of keys to deactivate the Help function on his device. He then returned his attention to the monster. 

"I want you to speak." He was still looking at the digimon. Musyamon remained hunched over. No answer came.

"I know you're not just a hologram," Henry continued. "You're something more. You look like a Digimon, but whether you really are or not is difficult to say. Joey says you might be an illusion created by some mythical realm and dark magic. And at this point, I'm ready to believe anything." Henry knelt before the creature, and pulled out his deck to sift through it. He found one of his option cards, the "Energy Surge", and used it immediately. It immediately negated the weakness in the Digimon's body.

Musyamon looked up as its pain disappeared. He went into an upright position and began the rhythmic battle sway that was programmed into all the monsters. It said nothing and didn't seem to register Henry's presence, or the lack of monsters in the area. It waited for a command.

Henry remained on his knees. "I want you to speak."

Nothing happened. Musyamon continued swaying, apparently oblivious to its surroundings.

"Attack." At this command, Musyamon looked around slowly, then returned to swaying. Henry repeated his command, but was more specific. "Attack this tree." He indicated a tree beside the hut he was training behind.

Musyamon instantly drew his sword and chopped the tree in half. The tree split, slowly fell to the ground, and both parts disintegrated into millions of pixels. Musyamon then rushed backwards and resumed his sway.

_The guard dog that kills on command. Regardless of what it's attacking._ Henry frowned and removed Musyamon's card from the active slot. The monster disappeared from view. Henry placed the cards he'd used in his deck and headed back to camp.

  


~ ~ ~ ~

  


Joey waved his hands for the umpteenth time, and thrust them forward. "Ah-la peanut butter sandwiches!" He imagined piles of gold and treasure, and prayed with all his might that what he imagined would come true. When he opened his eyes, there was nothing. He slumped to the ground. "Ah, man."

"It doesn't work that way," Henry reminded him as he watched.

"How do you know?" Joey replied. "If you can breath underwater and summon monsters with these things, then making gold should be easy." Joey spoke his magic chant again, but again nothing appeared.

"I don't know what these things are capable of, but I doubt they can make things appear out of thin air. You're probably better off trying to change something else into gold."

"Like in that Aladdin movie? The one with the Hand of Mazda or something?"

Henry suppressed a groan. "Midas. The Hand of Midas." He knew more than he wanted to about Disney movies, thanks to his sister and her obsession with that company's anime... err, animation. Disney had a lot of "pretty princess" stories.

"Okay, it's worth a try." Joey twirled his fingers and pointed at a random rock. "Ala-kazam! Change into a diamond!"

Both boys waited expectantly, but nothing happened. The rock was still a rock.

Henry frowned. "Maybe the Duel Arks are programmed to allow only certain kinds of changes. Like those related to survival and using the cards."

"Aww..." Joey groaned. "I was hoping to make a tiara for Serenity. Magic blows."

"This isn't magic. It's science... I think." Henry stood up and thought about his heart. Tentatively, he willed it to slow down, until it stopped beating entirely. Henry's heart was motionless, and yet Henry was still alive. The boy quickly started his heart again. "Or maybe it's an illusion. Holograms and sensory tricks of the highest order."

"I guess. But if they're holograms that can kill ya and fill up your belly, why bother saying their holograms? You might as well call them real." Joey munched on his apple, which was part of the holographic environment until he plucked it during their travels. "Or at least say its magic."

"That's what Digimon and the Digital World represented. The vague barrier between reality and dreams. Liminality." Henry drew a random card from his deck and set it. A Rare Digimon called Bahamon appeared. Henry returned the card to his deck, and the creature again faded from view. Henry set another card, and watched it fade from view when he removed it.

Joey finished off his apple and tossed the core over his shoulder. "We'd better get some sleep so we can get up bright and early. We've gotta tournament to win. And we've gotta find those people that have two Crests and take them down a notch."

"...Right." Henry replied without enthusiasm. Joey curled up by the fire and rested his head on his folded arms. In no time flat, he was asleep.

Henry took a seat on one of the logs and grabbed his cell phone. He activated his speed dialer with the touch of a button, and got an answer almost immediately. _"Hello?"_

"Rika, it's me. I just wanted to check and see if you were feeling better." Henry had heard about how Rika was attacked by a wild Tentacruel, and narrowly escaped thanks to her traveling companion.

_"Yeah, I'm fine. Ash is still not feeling well, so he's sleeping while his clothes are drying."_

"So you have a naked man in camp with you? Rika, I thought you weren't like that?"

_"Shut up! It's not like I care. Besides, he has a blanket on top of him so I can't..."_

Henry laughed at Rika's resulting embarrassment. "It's okay. Just remember that after the incident with Ryo, you're vulnerable. Don't do anything you'll regret later." 

Rika paused. Henry wished he could see what she was doing over there. Was she looking at the sleeping boy, or was she lost in thoughts of Ryo? 

_"I'll be careful. But I don't know... if I should be alone with him or not."_

"He's a pervert, then?"

_"No. It's me I'm worried about this time. I don't know what I'm feeling right now."_

Henry sighed dreamily, which had the desired effect of making Rika fume. "Ah, young love. So will it be the massage treatment, or a sensual bath in the wild?"

_"Look Wong, just because I've broken up with Ryo doesn't mean I'm lusting after men like a dog in heat. I'm just saying I'm a little confused right now. And I was hoping you could help me, but if you're going to act this way then never mind."_

"Come on, you know I'm teasing." Henry saw Joey rolling around in agitation, and decided to move out of camp so that he didn't wake the teen up. "I'm always concerned about you. I worry about you more than I do Suzy, which is saying a lot."

_"Suzy doesn't think about boys yet though. You'll have your hands full trying to keep her on the straight and narrow, I'm sure."_

A steady chirp filled Henry's ear. He recognized it as his phone's Call Waiting feature. "Hang on, I'm getting another call. Probably the little princess herself."

_"Okay. I need to move Ash's clothes anyway. Tell her 'Hi' for me."_

Henry pushed the Call Waiting button. "Hello?" There was nothing but static for a moment, but it cleared up at random intervals and revealed the sound of breathing. "Hello?"

_"H...Henry..."_

"Jeri? What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

There were some sounds of whimpering, making Henry's skin crawl. _"Help... me..."_ A loud roar like a tyrannosaurus filled the background, and the connection was cut. Henry frantically called out to Jeri, but no answer came. He brought Rika back to the line.

_"So is Suzy doing well?"_

"Jeri's in trouble!" Henry shouted. "It sounds like she's hurt!"

_"Jeri!? W-where is she!?"_

"She didn't say! The line cut off before I could get an answer." 

_"Takato should still be with her. Use the ark to track him! I'll do the same."_

"Right!" Henry lowered his cell phone and punched a rapid series of commands into his battling glove. "Show me Takato Matsuki's location!"

Instantly, a massive holographic map appeared of the whole island. Henry's location was displayed in the northern-central sector, while Takato's location was being searched for. Finally, a yellow dot appeared in the west sector at a place a few kilometers away from En'Dal. Henry dispelled the map with the wave of his Ark and returned his attention to the cell phone.

"Mihira Dungeon!" Henry said.

_"That's what I got too. It looks like you're closer than I am. I'll try to get there as soon as possible."_

"Use Kyuubimon if you have to. Just make sure you get there quickly. Jeri's life may be at risk." Henry hung up the phone and ran to where Joey was sleeping. "Wake up!"

Joey slumbered peacefully. "Mmm... so many pizzas... thank you Mai."

"Wake up!!" Henry shouted. Joey awoke with a start, his eyes half closed and his hair in disarray.

"What do ya wan'?" he murmured. "E-was such a nice dream." Joey punctuated the sentence with a yawn.

"A friend of mine is in trouble. We have to get to Mihira Dungeon as soon as possible. I... need your help." Henry didn't want to say that, because it would give Joey more of a reason to tag along with him.

Joey smirked. "Is that so? I guess I can save that dream for later." The teen jumped to his feet, held down the Auto-Shuffle button on his Duel Ark, and named the card he wanted. "Red Eyes, Black Dragon!" His deck shuffled instantly and brought the named card to the top of his deck, and immediately thrust it into the active slot automatically. Red Eyes appeared in a flash of fire and brimstone, and landed in the midst of camp with a rumble. The dragon roared mightily, ready to take on anything and everything.

"Come on, let's go!" Joey jumped onto the creature's back, and extended his hand to the tamer. "Let's go find this friend of yours."

Henry nodded in approval and took Joey's hand. The boy held onto Joey tightly as the Red Eyes leapt into the sky. Joey let out a cowboy's cry as they soared high into the sky and raced over the tree line.

"Slow down!" Henry cried above the roar of the wind.

"Why!? We're safe! There's nothing to run into up here!" Joey's dragon roared in agreement, and picked up speed. The trees passed beneath them quickly, and soon they were flying over a vast plain that would lead them to En'Dal, and the dungeon near it.

"Look at that," Joey said in amazement. Henry risked opening his eyes to do so. On the horizon was a plume of smoke, as if a missile or atomic bomb had gone off. The city of En'Dal appeared to be intact, but the wilderness around it was in flames and littered with destruction.

"Jeri... Takato..." The tamer felt himself trembling. He was sure that the two were somewhere in that inferno.

"Red Eyes, be ready to fight. Even if a Blue Eyes is in there somewhere, we're fighting to the very end!" The dragon roared, and swooped higher into the sky in order to pick up on the thermal currents above.

The dragon swooped over En'Dal, allowing Joey and Henry to survey the scene. The city was in a panic over the destruction, and people were running through the streets like mad. There even seemed to be a crew of firemen in the guise of humanoid turtle pokemon with powers over water. Even stranger, they seemed to be wearing cool shades and had a flag to represent their squad.

"All-righty then," Joey said unsurely. "Are we going to join those people down there, or fly in by ourselves?"

"Do you have to ask?" Henry replied. "My friends are in danger. We have to save them NOW."

"I thought you'd say that!" Joey held the scruff of his dragon as tightly as possible and ordered it to head into the inferno. Red Eyes obeyed without hesitation, and swooped down through the flames without fear. They disappeared into the fire, and made their way to the center of the destruction.

  


~ ~ ~ ~

  


[Merry-Go Town]

  


Yugi groaned in his sleep. Sakura watched him anxiously as Mokuba made several calls nearby. Nobody on the island or at Kaiba Corp seemed to have information on the systems that ran this island, and that made the boy even more suspicious of everything related to this competition – including his older brother. Kaiba was up to something here, and Mokuba wanted to know what.

"He's dreaming," Sakura said. "It must be a bad dream."

Mokuba glanced at the girl, but was dragged back into his phone conversation before he could make a reply. Sakura tentatively reached for Yugi's puzzle, and calmly grabbed it. It sparkled lightly, and made a warm glow.

Sakura's memory flashed an image of Clow Reed, the creator of her unique card game and a fan of ancient artifacts and legends concerning magic. He was fond of ancient history, and included many stories of ancient artifacts in his memoirs. Sakura had read them often, finding that they helped her understand more about her place in the world.

Sakura reached into her pocket and drew her deck of Clow Cards. The Clow Cards were not meant to be collectible like the other games sponsored by Industrial Illusions. They were a recreation of an ancient game played by magicians in Medieval times. With the popularity of Duel Monsters and Digimon, the game was all but forgotten. Sakura was the only Cardcaptor on the island, or so Kaiba had told her. He said nobody else was dumb enough to play such a boring game. But Sakura doubted she was the only Cardcaptor in the world. She felt deep in her heart... her digital mainframe, that the past she'd tried so hard to remember was connected to these cards. And only by finding another Cardcaptor would she be able to learn her true origins. And only with Mokuba's help could she do that.

Yugi shuddered, as if a cold wind had washed over him. Sakura retracted her hand in shock, but the boy made no further movements. Yugi resumed his distressing sleep, oblivious to the world around him. Sakura again reached out and touched the puzzle, and again that warm glow was there. She saw Clow Reed again, and the image slowly drained away to reveal a quaint Japanese town. Children played in the streets, and girls were going to school together. Sakura saw a girl in skating gear, riding through town with a smile on her face. The girl looked like her, but there was no way that could be true. Sakura never rode skates or went to school. She was a robot, mass produced for entertainment. She was not a real girl.

"You understand, don't you," Sakura whispered. "What it feels like to be alone. I can feel the emptiness inside you. It... doesn't have to be that way. Mokuba has shown me how it feels to be loved. We can do the same thing for you."

Mokuba walked over and put a hand on Sakura's before removing it from the puzzle entirely. Sakura looked up at him apologetically.

"Yugi is the only duelist whose ever beaten my brother in a fair fight. Pegasus is the only other duelist ever to beat him." Mokuba sat on the side of the bed and checked Yugi's temperature, only to find it was still feverishly high. "Yugi has a dark side to him. A powerful, dangerous side. He may look innocent now, but when he duels..." Mokuba shivered at the thought. "It's like watching a demon."

Sakura frowned at the sleeping boy. "An avenging angel... alone in the world."

Mokuba watched the girl as she stared sympathetically onto Yugi's face. He cleared his throat, and brought her out of her dreamy state. "You'd better get some rest. I've called in a helicopter that will pick us up around midnight. Zero will just have to do without his prized duelBot."

Sakura nodded. "I guess I won't need these, will I." She indicated the Clow Cards in her hands.

"...Keep them. They are important to you, aren't they?" Sakura nodded again. "Then they are yours."

Sakura slowly looked down at the cards, and clutched them tightly to her chest. She felt warm again, though not as strongly as she had when she touched Yugi's puzzle. These cards had special value to her, though she didn't know why. One day, she would find out. "Thank you Mokuba... for everything."

The boy smiled lightly, showing the prettier side of him. Most of the time he had harsh expressions like his older brother, but Sakura would sometimes see the beautiful side of him. His smiles were always soothing.

"I'll be sleeping on the floor again." The young Kaiba went into the next room, and closed the door quietly. Sakura smiled fondly at him.

Sakura pocketed her cards, and stood up. She bowed to the teen on the bed. "Good night, Yugi Muto." As she turned to join Mokuba in the next room, a strange power surged through the room. It was like a rush of heat, followed by a low rumble like thunder. When Sakura turned around, the bed was empty.

"....Yugi?"

  


~ ~ ~ ~

  


[Mihira Ruins]

Red Eyes landed amidst the burning wreckage of the ruins. Henry promptly dismounted and raced for the closest body. It turned out to be Seto Kaiba, perhaps the greatest duelist in the world according to the entertainment magazines and publishers. Joey followed more sedately, after ordering his Red Eyes to wait and watch.

"Kaiba," Joey grumbled. "Looks like somebody cleaned his clock."

"They tore his clock to bits." Henry touched the duelist's neck and waited. "His heart is still beating. Barely."

"Unnhh..." Kaiba moaned slightly before opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was Joey's fierce glare. "Wheeler...?"

"What nest of hornets did you stir up this time, Kaiba? Whatever you did, it looks like you got what you deserved."

Kaiba slowly turned his head, first left and then right, before looking back at Joey. "What is this place? Where... am I?"

"You're at what used to be Mihira Dungeon," Henry said. "My friends are in trouble. Did you attack them?"

"I don't know." Kaiba groaned as he pulled himself to a sitting position with much effort. "The last thing I remember... I was at Kaiba Corp, talking on the phone to someone from Industrial Illusions. After that, everything is a blur."

Joey looked around, and caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure. "Henry." The boy stood up and looked in the same direction. The figure disappeared into the fire.

"That might be the culprit," Henry murmured. "If it is, he has some explaining to do."

"I'll take care of Kaiba," Joey said. "I'll catch up." Henry nodded, and raced deeper into the ruins.

Kaiba looked up at Joey, and sighed. "Of all the people to be rescued by. I guess that makes you a golden retriever like Lassie, eh puppy dog?"

Joey gritted his teeth. "Just because I'm saving you doesn't mean I have to treat you nicely." Joey yanked Kaiba to his feet and dragged him to his Red Eyes to recuperate.

  


~ ~ ~ ~

  


Henry slowly stepped through what used to be the end of the dungeon. The marble floor was shattered to pieces, and the walls were barely intact. The ceiling was shattered by whatever force caused the destruction, and the fires surrounded the dungeon with smoke. Henry looked around, and saw another body on the floor. This time, it was a familiar face.

"Takato!" The tamer rushed over and slid to his knees, before cradling the wounded boy. "Takato!"

Henry listened for the boy's breath, but there was none. He instantly put a finger on the boy's neck, and listened for a heart beat. And listened. And listened. Takato's heart was not beating. He was...

"No! Takato, get up dammit!" Henry lowered the boy to the ground and started administering CPR, first by putting pressure on his chest. After several beats, he put his lips to the boy's mouth and breathed deeply. He gave Takato two deep breaths before resuming the pumping on his chest. "Takato, wake up!!"

After a second round of breathing, Henry listened for a heartbeat. Still none.

Henry's eyes were in tears now. "Takato... come on, wake up..." Slowly, the boy's head sagged and fell to his friend's chest.

"A pity, that," said a new voice. "He died before I could extract his Ka." 

Henry slowly looked up, only to see a man standing there with an unconscious Jeri in his grasp. He was dressed in a flowing black robe that looked like the wings of a giant bat. He wore a tight black body suit with demonic symbols covering it like tattoos. The man's hair was black with red highlights and bangs that surrounded his face like thorns. Hanging around his neck was a large pendant made of ebony shaped like an upside pyramid, and at its center was a glowing Egyptian eye. His facial features were obscured by a golden mask that was styled like that of an Egyptian pharaoh.

Henry shot to his feet, his eyes still filled with tears. "What have you done to my friends!?"

"Aren't you supposed to ask who I am, first?" Jeri remained limp in his arms, but she was breathing slightly. She was injured, but alive.

"I don't care who you are!" Henry flexed his arm to reveal his Duel Ark, and it primed instantly. "Put Jeri down!"

The man chuckled. "...Well since you didn't ask, my name is Zero. I am the liaison for this tournament. And I'm afraid that your friend didn't make the cut." Zero held his left hand up, and his puzzle glowed with an evil red light. The light shot into the ground, and spread out into a circle of red light with many Egyptian symbols at its edges. 

"And I'm afraid you won't either. Fight me if you dare, but if you lose I will claim the Ka sleeping inside you. Is that understood?"

"The... Ka?" 'Ka' was the name given to Duel Monsters in this crossover tournament. Why would Henry have a monster inside him? Or did it have another meaning?

"If you are ready... we can begin." Zero's puzzle flared with light and let out a high-pitched whistle, and the summoning circle at his feet caused the wind around him to swirl like a tornado. His cape whipped about, and his eyes glowed with evil intent.

  
  


** **Zero (Ebon Puzzle):** 9999 LP **

"What kind of freak are you!" Henry shouted. "You're hurting innocent people just for a game!"

"It's not just a game, you fool," Zero said with amusement. "It's a system of magic, greater than the sum of its parts. It is the product of Ultimate Compatibility." As he said this, a massive tablet appeared behind him, depicting a swordsman with pointed ears and ancient armor. The tablet glowed brightly, and from the light came a spirit that formed into the shape of the monster on the tablet. The Celtic Guardian brought his sword to bear, and stood at the ready. [1400/1200, SPD 12]

_Ultimate Compatibility._ Henry quickly drew his hand and played his first monster – an insect digimon named Kokuwamon that buzzed around his master. [1750/1300, SPD 30]

"Attack!!" Kokuwamon shot forward to meet the Celtic Guardian in battle, and the Guardian charged as well. Kokuwamon struck at the creature, but the swordsman blocked and evaded the insect's attacks with amazing skill. Henry couldn't understand how that could be, since Kokuwamon's attributes were all higher than the swordsman's.

Zero chose to enlighten him. "Warriors are resistant to Insect-types, my friend. Meaning that your fly is easy pickings for my slave." As he said this, the guardian scored a hit on Kokuwamon and sliced into its armor. The insect's armor held up against the attack and did little more than knock it back. The bug bounced off the ground and pressed its attack.

_What he didn't say was that my Insect is also resistant to his Warrior,_ Henry noted. _This stalemate will continue forever unless I do something. Time for a change of pace._ "Kokuwamon, fly up into the air out of his reach!" The digimon rose as high as it could and swirled around the tattered ceiling of the dungeon.

"Fine by me. Celtic Guardian, attack him directly!" Zero's monster brought its attention to Henry, and rushed forward with its sword held high. When the guardian was halfway across the battlefield, Henry slashed a card from his hand.

"Sky Attack!" Three balls of light flew from the Duel Ark and entered Kokuwamon up above, just as the creature began a dive straight towards Henry's position. Henry remained motionless, his teeth gritted tightly as the Celtic Guardian drew close. Just as the swordsman was about to slice him in half, Kokuwamon rammed the monster with all its might and cut into it with its mandibles. The Sky Attack scored a direct hit and dealt massive damage to the beast before cutting it in half.

  
  


** **Zero:** 6999 LP **

  
  


The tablet hovering behind Zero shattered as the Ka inside it was destroyed. Zero felt the pain of its destruction as if it were his own, and his summoning circle shimmered lightly to reflect the pain as well. Slowly, he rose to his feet and stood fully erect again. Jeri was still in his arms.

Zero seemed pleased by Henry's moves, even though his life points had suffered greatly from the assault. "Well done. Your spirit is indeed strong. Your Ka must be even stronger..."

Henry's Kokuwamon hovered beside him. "Let go of Jeri now, and I promise I won't hurt you when this is over." Henry's violent streak was starting to take over.

"...Unfortunately, I cannot promise you the same mercy. I'm keeping this girl. As long as Exodia resides within her, she is more valuable to me than anything else." Zero raised his hand again, and another tablet appeared behind him. This one was a much larger warrior than the last, and he even had a war horse to support him. The monster appeared on the field, and brandished his javelins menacingly.

"Gaia, the Fierce Knight!" Zero lifted his other hand, and another tablet appeared behind him. This one was not a monster, but an image of two pedestals that shot a bright light into the heavens. This one manifested by turning the environment into a deep, black void with purple storm clouds up above. The world around them seemed to literally change thanks to the tablet's effects. "And the Chaos Field, to transform him into the Black Luster Soldier!!"

_A Chaos Field?_ There was a card like that in the Digimon card game, which helped to power up those Digimon that were classified as "nightmare soldiers". The knight in front of Henry's opponent was changing into a steedless warrior with a feminine figure and powerful weaponry. When the transformation was complete, the powerful Gaia had changed into the magnificent Black Luster Soldier. [3000 / 2500, SPD 24]

_Okay, time to do something._ Henry quickly removed Kokuwamon from play, and slashed a card called Partner Egg. The option card brought a symbol egg to the field, green in color and innocent in appearance. The Black Luster Soldier looked down at it, and seemed to scoff it.

"...A Partner Egg," Zero mused. "You are trying to summon your partner in the hopes that it can defeat my monster." Henry said nothing in reply. Zero already seemed to know that that was the case. "It's too bad your egg won't survive to hatch."

Black Luster Soldier leapt into the air and brought its sword down with unparalleled force. As the soldier was about to destroy the egg, Henry slashed a card in its defense.

"Mega Gargomon, quick defense!" The spirit of the massive digimon swooped down and knocked the soldier aside with ease. [DEF 3300]

The soldier flipped across the field and landed in a kneeling position beside Zero and his summoning circle. The spirit of Mega Gargomon hovered there momentarily, waiting for any further attacks. Zero didn't bother to press the assault, as it would do little more than waste his monster's energy.

"You're wasting your time," Zero said. "Since you've sacrificed your partner's strongest evolution, your chances of defeating me are even lower."

"We'll see." Henry watched as his egg hatched, and Terriermon's pre-evolutionary form appeared. Zerimon blew a few bubbles and bounced around to announce its arrival. [450/350, SPD 10 – Baby monsters cannot be attacked or targeted by effects.]

"...How cute," Zero taunted. "Your prized defender is nothing more than a false wall. Granted, Black Luster Soldier cannot attack it, but we can attack you as much as we like. And if you order the baby to protect you, it will die just like any other monster."

Zerimon hopped onto Henry's shoulder and slid into the folds of his jacket to hide. Henry remained focused on his foe. "I would never do that. I love Terriermon. Which is more than most players can say about their monsters."

"Just what I would expect from one of the famous Digimon Tamers." Zero's monster rose and readied its weapon. "Just because you spend a few months with talking monsters, you become attached to them as if they were living things. Monsters are not alive. They need the souls of their masters in order to be even remotely sentient."

"Terriermon and I share the same soul," Henry growled. "That is why we love each other. And that is why we're going to crush you for hurting our friends!!" Zerimon leapt into the air, and Henry's Duel Ark shook violently as power raced through it.

Zerimon glowed with the same light that was emanating from the Duel Ark, and flashed through its intermediary level to become Terriermon. The rookie digimon landed on its feet in the center of the shadow field, and struck a dramatic pose before doing a two-clawed salute.

"Terriermon is back, baby!" The digimon then flashed the V-for-Victory sign before noticing the abnormally large soldier standing in front of him. "Whoa... big momma..."

** **Henry:** 800 LP **

Henry panted as he felt a wave of exhaustion. He fell to one knee, and tried to regain his breath. His eyes were locked on the Digimon ahead of him. "Terrier...mon...?"

"Not now!" the floppy-eared hero shouted. Terriermon leapt out of the way as the Black Luster Soldier attacked fiercely. Only Terriermon's speed kept him from becoming sushi. "We've got an angry chick to trounce!"

"You bet we do!" Henry took a card from his hand and slashed it. "Digivolution, activate!!"

"Terriermon, digivolve to...!" The rookie rushed across the field and started a leaping kick midway through his transformation. Just as he finished the digivolution, his foot connected with the Soldier and sent her flying through the air. "...Gargomon!!" [2150/1950, SPD 15]

Zero fumed at his soldier, but quickly controlled his rage. He looked into the eyes of his young opponent. "So your monster has broken free of my control matrix. This could prove interesting." Black Luster Soldier rushed across the field and sliced into Gargomon, sending showers of blood in all directions and knocking the digimon onto its back. [HP == 1950]

"Gargomon!!" Henry shouted. He dared not move though, as that would put him in the line of fire. And in a monster battle, that was the worst thing a fragile human could do.

"I-I think I'm okay." The champion pulled himself to his feet as Black Luster Soldier swayed mechanically opposite him. "This chick is making me mad though."

"Let's show her what you've got! Digivolve again!" Henry slashed another Digivolution card, and Gargomon's outer appearance shattered like glass to reveal Rapidmon underneath. [2800 / 2250, SPD 19] The ultimate shot across the field like a bullet and rammed the soldier with his shoulder, sending them both tumbling into the wall of the ruined dungeon.

_He's vulnerable!_ Henry drew the topmost card of his deck to refill his hand and slashed it when he saw it was a monster card. "Gorillamon!!" Henry lifted the palm of his gloved hand and aimed it straight at Zero. Gorillamon's spirit flew forth like a rocket. Zero was about to get a face-full of fur! [ATK 2200]

Gorillamon's attack connected with the edge of Zero's summoning circle, but went no further. The spirit was knocked back with startling force and dispelled just as quickly. The circle swirled about slowly, uninterrupted by Gorillamon's attack. Zero chuckled in amusement.

"A good plan, but you forget who you're dealing with. Any summoner can throw a monster at the enemy for a quick attack, but only a few of us can resist that attack." Zero lifted his hands, and a third tablet appeared beside Gaia's. This tablet had the image of a man wielding a staff and dressed in flowing robes, like a magician.

Henry gritted his teeth. If he mistimed his defense, this would hurt.

"Dark Magician!!" Zero's summoning circle flared with power, and he extended his hand as Henry had done before. A Dark Magician dressed in shadow-black robes flew from his tablet at great speed, and twirled a scythe-wand as he prepared for the final blow of the battle.

_NOW!!_ Henry slashed Musyamon's card, and the samurai spirit rushed to intercept the attack. Musyamon was obliterated, and Henry flew backwards from the resulting backlash. His life points suffered, and his head throbbed from the pain it caused.

  
  


** **Henry:** 50 LP **

  
  


The Dark Magician's tablet lowered to the ground and fell face-down. Its effect was used up, for the moment.

Rapidmon felt the pain as well, and that pain turned into rage. He continued to grapple with the Black Luster Soldier, slowly gaining ground as he powered up his thrusters and slowly floated into a hovering position. With the higher leverage, Rapidmon was able to twist her arms and throw her with all his might. The soldier rolled across the ground, and Rapidmon took the opportunity to blast her with a flurry of rockets from his primary weapons. He didn't bother to wait for the dust to settle, because he knew she would be alive even after a point-blank attack.

"Henry!!" The ultimate zoomed across the field and rushed at Zero. He ran into the man's summoning circle, but he didn't stop his assault. He beat on the barrier mercilessly, sending sparks of light flying every time he connected with it. Finally, Zero grew tired of this and held up his hand. A powerful force erupted from his palm, and Rapidmon was flung back with enough speed to shatter the wall he crashed into.

"...Foolish, and ineffective. Those who possess the power of the summoning circle cannot be beaten by simply pummeling them. My defenses are impenetrable unless you reduce my strength."

Henry slowly stood up, his body still aching from the prior attack. "Rapidmon... his LPB is far too powerful for us to penetrate. Go after the Luster Soldier!"

"Right buddy!" Rapidmon whirled around as the monster in question strolled through the dust. The knight was battered and bruised, but still in motion. And she seemed to be smirking.

"You're pretty cute, for a mindless killing machine." Rapidmon closed his legs and extended his arms to form a Y-shape, and focused his energies as he called on his special attack. "TRI-Beam!!" A rainbow-colored triangle started materializing in front of him.

"Spellbinding Circle!" Zero threw up his hands, and a new tablet appeared where the Dark Magician's tablet used to be. A pentagram appeared beneath the ultimate digimon, who found himself unable to move.

"What the heck? Get this thing off of me, cheater!" The pentagram rose until it was at Rapidmon's midsection, and spread its magic to encompass his whole body and his budding Tri-Beam attack. Rapidmon was totally paralyzed, and his attack dissipated without effect.

** Rapidmon's **ATK** and **DEF** drop by 700. || **ATK** == 2100. **DEF** == 1550. **

  
  


"No!!" Henry frantically searched his hand, but he didn't have any cards in his hand that could get rid of a paralysis effect. If Rapidmon couldn't move, he would be creamed in no time, and Henry's life points would drop to zero. Jeri would be taken, and he would likely suffer the same fate as Takato.

"You... bastard!!" Henry shouted. Although he was helpless, he wouldn't die quietly.

"You fought well, boy. But your Ka now belongs to me." Black Luster Soldier calmly walked over to where Henry stood, and lifted her sword like an executioner. Soon, it would all be over.

"CEASE AND DESIST, OR YOUR ASS IS MINE." Black Luster Soldier whirled around, only to find the ugliest android she'd ever seen. Henry couldn't believe it when he saw Joey standing behind such a powerful monster. The expression on his face was dead serious – something Henry thought was impossible.

"...Joey?"

"I thought you could use a little help." Joey bit his thumb and thrust it at the masked man. "Especially against Dracula here." Jinzo crossed his arms and stood like an imposing statue.

"As if your presence matters," Zero chided. "Black Luster Soldier's powers are mightier than your machine's." Henry examined his Duel Ark to confirm the truth of his statement.

  
**Jinzo, the Android Psycho Shocker.**  
** Dark / Machine / Ka  
** PWR LVL 6 / HP 1200  
** ATK 2400 / DEF 1500 / SPD 18

_He's right,_ Henry noted. _The Black Luster Soldier is much stronger than Joey's monster. What's he thinking?_ _Is he... throwing himself in the line of fire to protect me, even though he can't win?_

Joey smirked like the confident street punk he was. "Go ahead and talk big while you can. Because Jinzo is going to smoke you and your Soldier."

"I will deal with you later," Zero said. "Step aside so that I can finish off the boy."

"...You actually expect me to do that?" Joey stayed put. The Black Luster Soldier stared down at him menacingly, her sword in perfect line with his nose.

"...Then it's your loss. At that range, even your Duel Ark cannot protect you from decapitation. Your life will end." Zero lifted his hand, and Black Luster Soldier brought her sword up high. Joey shouted a word just as the sword came down at blistering speed.

The blade paused just above Joey's nose. The duelist was unphased, as he knew what the outcome of the attack had been. It took a second, but the Soldier's body eventually dissipated into a cloud of ash. She'd been incinerated instantly.

Only then did the backlash hit Zero. The force of the damage was so strong that he was knocked off his feet, and his concentration was broken. Jeri was flung to the side and landed against the edge of the summoning circle. The circle stopped spinning and faded from view. Zero growled from the intense pain in his head. How had so much damage been dealt to the Black Luster Soldier!?

  
  


** **Zero:** 4699 LP **

  
  


Jinzo tapped Rapidmon on the forehead, and instantly the trap effect that paralyzed him was negated. The Spellbinding Circle, and its tablet, shattered into a million pieces.

"I can move!" Rapidmon exclaimed.

"Get him!!" Henry and Joey shouted in unison. Both Jinzo and Rapidmon launched their special attacks as quickly as they could. A split-second before impact, Zero's head shot up and his powerful, ancient eyes connected with the attacks. His summoning circle flared to life, and the attacks were block in the nick of time. Flickers of flame danced off the circle's edge.

"Dammit!" Joey growled. "What's it going to take to beat this guy?"

Zero stood up and laughed loudly. "Well! I must say you've surprised me Joey."

The teen blinked. "You... know who I am?"

"For such a low-level duelist, you have some interesting monsters! I don't recall this one being in your deck at Duelist Kingdom."

A sparkle touched Henry's eye. _Duelist Kingdom? Is he a Duelist like Joey?_

"I can make Jinzo by fusing Tristan's Cyber Commander and my Battle Warrior. I'm glad he let me borrow that card."

"I had forgotten that Jinzo's converted elements were Psychic and Steel," Zero continued. "Those elements are powerful in their own right, and nearly unstoppable when fused into one monster. Jinzo's elemental advantage allowed him to destroy my Soldier."

"Bingo. And I'm going to do the same thing to anything you play. Bring it!" Joey remained in front of Henry, while Jinzo laughed deeply and mechanically.

"A pleasure." 

  


~ ~ ~ ~

  


Rika raced through the woods on Kyuubimon's back. The hologram jumped, ducked, and dashed around the trees like lightning, narrowly avoiding some of the wandering players. Ash clung to Rika's waist and held her tightly for support. Her shirt was still torn from the battle with Tentacruel, and she hadn't bothered to change afterwords. So having Ash's arms around her waist was exciting her more than it should have. Rika tried to focus on the crisis at hand. Jeri was in trouble, and Takato probably was too.

"I knew those two would get into trouble by themselves," the tamer grumbled. "But I didn't think they'd get hurt. I should have stayed with her."

"It doesn't matter. Let's just get there quickly."

Rika smirked. "I can do 'Quickly'." Rika held down her Auto-Shuffle button. "Speed Chip!" The card's slash effect was activated, and Kyuubimon's running speed nearly doubled. The hologram was running so fast that the surrounding woods were a blur, but amazingly they didn't hit a single obstacle. Kyuubimon's speed was only matched by her agility and reflexes.

"...We may be in for a fight when we get there," Rika warned. "Do you have your Ark this time?"

Ash sighed. "Yeah. I still hate using this thing. I'd rather just use my pokeballs, but rules are rules."

"You still want to win." Rika frowned slightly. "For Misty's sake."

"...Mostly. But right now, the only question on my mind is if I can protect my friends. This tournament will tell me if I can or not."

"In more ways than one. We may have to fight for our lives." 

Rika guided Kyuubimon through the last of the forest trees before she shot out into a vast plain. Off in the distance was a city of holograms, and beyond it was the smoke plume that represented Mihira Dungeon. Or what was left of it. Rika urged Kyuubimon on, and the fox put everything she had into running.

"Kyuubimon's energy will be gone by the time we get there. She won't be able to fight." Rika frowned. "Without Kyuubimon, it'll be hard for Renamon to power up."

"Here." Ash reached into his pockets and held three cards to Rika. "Take these."

Rika looked at them as she took them. They were Pokemon cards – Flareon, Vaporeon, and Jolteon. Rika examined the statistics and saw they were decent monsters, but why was Ash giving them to her? What use would Pokemon have in her deck?

"Trust me," the trainer said when he noticed her hesitation. "They should give your Renamon a nice boost." Ash slipped his deck into his Duel Ark. The device accepted his cards and their data.

"...Thanks Ash," Rika said. She didn't think she would need them, but it'd be nice to have other options if her Matrix Digivolution card didn't come up in a draw. She slipped the three cards into her deck, and the Auto-Shuffle function triggered. Kyuubimon remained in the active slot.

The storm clouds rolled above them, and thunder crackled as they approached the city. Darkness permeated the ground like a shadow, and the air was cold. Rika shivered a bit, remembering the same feeling when she fought Ice Devimon. The feeling of chilling darkness...

"Don't worry." Ash tightened his grip on her waste, his arms sending waves of warmth through her body. "They'll be alright. Everything will be fine."

Rika kept her face on the road ahead to hide her blush. "...Yeah. I just hope we get there in time." 

~ ~ ~ ~

  


Jinzo stood calmly at Joey's side. A few meters away, Zero considered his next move. As long as Zero was protected by the summoning circle, he was immune to direct attacks that couldn't penetrate the LPB's defense. Zero was in control of the situation, and he knew it.

"Why are you even bothering?" Joey asked curiously. "I mean... I can't touch you. So why don't you just fly off?"

"Heh..." Zero smiled audibly. "A good question. If I want to keep my summoning circle active, I have to concentrate. And moving would break my concentration. So the best course of action is to wipe out your life points and force your Arks to deactivate."

"...And then kill us," the teen added.

"Maybe." Zero lifted his arms and summoned the next series of tablets. The leftmost tablet depicted a wolf howling at the sky. The other tablet was blank. The wolf beast appeared in a flash of light and snarled at the enemy Jinzo. [1200/800, SPD 24]

"What the heck is that?" Rapidmon asked.

"That's a Silver Fang," Joey mused. "Yugi used that monster back in the day. But this other tablet... there's nothing on it."

"It's not blank," Henry said weakly. He was clutching his chest and trying to catch his breath. "It's reversed."

"Reversed?" Joey echoed.

"...The picture is on the other side of the tablet. Zero will flip it when he uses it against you. Be careful."

Joey nodded in agreement. "If all he's playing is a wimpy Silver Fang, then he's definitely got some kind of trap waiting." Joey smiled as he looked at his own monster. "But as long as Jinzo's out, that doesn't make any difference. Jinzo will destroy any trap he springs before it's sprung! Right buddy?"

"BUTT-KICKING, VERSION TWO-POINT-OH." Jinzo extended his hand and powered up his psychic attack.

"H-how is this thing talking?" Henry said in amazement.

"Who cares!?" Rapidmon powered up his weaponry as well. "Let's just beat this guy!"

"Fire away, Jinzo!!" The monster launched his first volley of psychic attacks at Silver Fang, and Rapidmon followed suit. The beast jumped and roll, deftly avoiding the shots as they came near. Zero stood calmly as attacks whizzed by him, bouncing off the sides of his barrier only to explode in the surrounding countryside.

"Try again!" Joey ordered. Jinzo fired away, each time coming closer and closer to hitting the wolf, but each attack missed the monster by a hair. In seconds, Silver Fang was right at Jinzo's feet, and ready to pounce on the android.

"No!!" Joey shouted. His monster aimed right at Silver Fang's face and fired a wave of psychic energy, but Silver Fang leapt straight up to avoid it. The monster bounded over Jinzo and fell towards his prey – Henry.

"Kill him now!!" Zero ordered.

Silver Fang pounced, but failed to hit his intended target. Joey intercepted the beast at the last second with his own body, and started a wrestling match with the ferocious canine. Jinzo stood poised for attack, but did nothing. Henry wondered how that could be, since the holograms would attack regardless of where their player was. Was the machine... concerned?

"Get out of the way!" Rapidmon shouted. Like Jinzo, he could do nothing if Joey was in the line of fire.

Finally, Silver Fang scored a hit on the human. Joey yelled in pain as the beast chomped down on Joey's shoulder, spraying blood in several directions and causing him some real damage. Joey kicked as hard as he could, sending the wolf stumbling across the ground. Jinzo took the opening and blasted the wolf with all his might. Silver Fang was annihilated without difficulty. Zero was damaged, but he'd apparently done what he wanted to. Joey was winged, and in serious pain.

  
  


** **Joey:** 0 LP || **Zero:** 3099 LP **

  
  


"Joey!" Henry took off his own shirt and started ripping it up to make hasty bandages. He tried to stem the flow of blood from Joey's shoulder.

"I'm... okay," he lied. "I lost all my life points... because I freed Jinzo earlier. At least... he's free now."

Jinzo looked down at himself just before he disappeared from view. Even with his current state of sentience, it seemed that the monster could not survive without Joey's energy. The duelist tried to get up and continue the fight, but he could not manage. The teen fainted in Henry's arms.

"That's two friends down," Zero taunted as he stood up yet again. There was a trail of blood moving from the side of his mask. "Is there anyone else you wish to sacrifice to me? Or are you ready to give up your Ka?"

Henry trembled, in fear and in anger. Such a powerful force... Zero did not fear him or his digimon partner. How could he win this, when Zero's energy levels were still in the thousands and Henry's were just above the minimum? Henry knew that Rika was coming with her friend to help, but he had to stall until she got there. He just hoped he didn't end up like Joey. Or worse, like Takato.

Henry stood up, tears streaking down his face. Despite his sadness, his eyes were filled with ferocity. "I will fight you. And I will win."


	8. Destiny! The Way of the Stars

****

** Henry: 50 LP || **Zero: **3099 LP ******

Zero and Henry stood at opposite sides of the battlefield. The summoning circle that protected Zero from direct attack was still in effect, and Henry was still suffering the aftereffects of the quick attack that nearly wiped out his life points. The boy's shirt was torn, but only because Henry had used parts of it to give Joey some first aid. Now, Joey was unconscious and Henry was alone again.

"I rarely meet warriors with your level of tenacity," Zero commented. "This girl, Jeri... she must be important to you."

"So is Takato," the tamer snarled. "And everyone I'm friends with."

"I had friends once. But ultimately, it was their mortal weaknesses that sent them to the afterlife." Zero inhaled deeply, then slowly let the air out of his lungs. "It is the curse of a Ka to live forever, and forever witness death. True Ka do not have friends."

"You've... mentioned that word before. Ka. Tell me what it is. So at least I know why you killed Takato"

Rapidmon waited patiently for a command. The monster dared not move a muscle, for fear that the battle would begin anew, and his tamer would suffer more.

"It is something like me," Zero finally answered. "A spirit that lives through the centuries, guiding the lives of the mortals." Zero's puzzle glowed as his memories rose to the surface.

"So you're... a ghost?"

"An apt comparison. But I am more than a mere ghost. Every mortal has a past life that they cannot remember. Another 'self' that has existed in another time. Some of these selves have such great force of will, that their personalities are burned into the soul that created them. As the soul is reborn through the centuries, the personality sometimes influences its descendants or takes control outright. Other times, the personality takes on a life of its own, such as it did in ancient Egypt in the form of monsters."

"Monsters?" _Flash _

"...I created Guilmon. He is a part of me. And I am a part of him. Without him, I feel... incomplete. There must be a way to get him back. And I'm going to find it." Flash

"Ka..." Henry looked at his fallen friend, and sighed. "Takato..."

"These Ka are sources of great power. Many people try to acquire the power of the Ka by stealing the ancient items that carry them, or capturing the monsters that host them. But I have discovered a way to draw out the spirit directly, and claim it as my own. In this way, I can gain enough power to control the ultimate power."

"Is that why you attacked Takato? Because you think he has one of these Ka? If so, then I think you have the wrong guy," Henry lied. "Takato's never done anything that'd make me believe he was that great. Neither has Jeri."

"...Then you don't think destroying the D-Reaper was an impressive feat?" 

Henry gasped. Zero chuckled a bit.

"Yes... I know a lot about you and your friends. Even more than the various journalists who published your story. Innocent Takato has accomplished much in his young life. He created a Digimon, unleashed the powers of the Crystal Matrix through the Blue Cards, and achieved Biomerge Digivolution, all through force of will. These actions are not possible for those without Ka."

"But... why Jeri? She is a great person, but she's legendary."

"I beg to differ," Zero said. "Jeri has a mighty spirit... as do you, and the redhead. All of you have some measure of greatness within you. Those who possess Ka are destined to change the world."

"So you're going to steal that gift from us!? For some 'ultimate power'?"

Zero looked at the girl lying unconscious at his feet. "Just as Takato is destined for Creation, Jeri is destined for Destruction. It is this destiny that drew the infantile D-Reaper to her, and enabled it to grow within her and achieve its final form in the real world."

"Jeri has many past selves within her that were equally destined for Destruction. The face of Destruction has changed with the times. Exodia and D-Reaper are two parts of the same force... a force tied to Jeri's lineage."

Henry never imagined that Jeri was so cursed. "No..."

"Just as Jeri gave physical form to the D-Reaper, she can also give physical form to the Forbidden One. It is Jeri's birthright to unseal him, and unleash the ultimate power He possesses. All she needs is a little 'nudge' into the realm of depression and fear. And I intend to give her that nudge. Starting with the elimination of her loved ones, one by one, and the enslavement of the very power that makes them special."

"You... you monster!" Henry shouted. "RAPIDMON!!"

The digimon barked like a rabid dog and zoomed across the field to attack. Zero's powers must've been weakening, as he was actually worried about being hit. His hand shot up as he summoned another tablet, this time emblazoned with an ankh. The tablet shined its light on the field, and instantly the Black Luster Soldier returned. 

"No way! He brought her back from the dead!" Henry didn't think it was possible to ressurect the dead... even if they were living holograms. Did Zero's "magic system" have any limits?

Rapidmon didn't stop his tackle, and slammed into the Black Luster Soldier. Surprised as she was, the soldier took the blow with less grace than normal. The two monsters rolled in the dirt and wrestled for control. As the battle continued, Henry prepared a strategy that would put Zero in his place.

"Armor Piercing!!" Henry slashed the option card, and three globes of light shot into Rapidmon from the ark. "Rapidmon, make this shot count!"

"You got it!" Rapidmon leaped into the air and flipped backwards as he powered up his shoulder cannons. He came to a quick stop, and the missiles shot from their pods like bullets. "Good~bye!" he growled.

"Mystical Elf, protect her!" Another tablet came into being and shined its light. A blue-skinned elf hovered above the Luster Soldier and shielded her body with her own. Rapidmon's attack sliced through the elf easily thanks to his armor-piercing attack. Parts of her robe fell everywhere like pillow stuffing. Her cries echoed through the field. 

The Luster Soldier was injured by the bullets that got through, but she was alive. The monster got to her feet and raced to the opposite side of the field for better position. The power of the dead Elf went into the Luster Soldier and increased her strength to a competitive level. [ATK +400 / DEF +400 / SPD +4]

"It appears I have the advantage now," Zero smirked.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Henry reminded him. "But I'm sure a masked man would know all about appearances."

Zero laughed maliciously. "You're an amusing boy. I will regret killing you." Black Luster Soldier charged for Henry, but Rapidmon managed to zoom into the path of the attack and take the hit. The digimon fell with a cry as the monster's sword took out a chunk of his armor and disabled one of his missile pods before cutting into his skin. Henry cried out in a similar manner as Rapidmon's pain was transferred to him as well. They were lucky to be alive after a hit like that.

** **Rapidmon:** 1350 HP || **Black Luster Soldier:** 600 HP **

"It appears that my warrior has an advantage over machines like your friend," Zero taunted. "If he weren't so closely tied to you, he would've been sliced in half by her blade."

Henry's left arm was dead at its side, and Rapidmon was in the same predicament. Black Luster Soldier was peppered with missile wounds. Both monsters looked like they were ready to drop from exhaustion. The pain flowing through their bodies was intense. 

And yet, both monsters were intent on finishing this battle. If only to see which of them was strongest. And even then, they already had deep respect for each other. Rapidmon just wasn't sure if the Black Luster Soldier was "free" enough to understand that.

"...Good game," the digimon said.

The soldier smiled, and nodded. And at that point, she attacked in full force.

~ ~ ~ ~

Rika and Ash rode towards the flaming ruins of Mihira Dungeon, only to be stopped by a crowd of walking, talking pokemon furries. The crowd and their fire squad of Squirtles were baffled by something in the fire-filled area.

"What the hell is going on?" Rika barked as she dismounted her Kyuubimon. "Get out of here before you get hurt!"

"We can't get into the trouble zone," said the leader of the Squirtle Squad, a turtle-man wearing a pair of black shades and a fireman's kimono. "There appears to be something blocking us. Some kind of barrier."

Rika approached the "barrier", where two Squirtle-men and a Vulpix-girl were tapping it curiously. Rika shooed them away and tested the barrier herself. With a flick of her finger, she noted it was quite solid. And quite invisible.

"What do you make of this?" Rika said as she turned around. Ash was making some odd stares at the Squirtle Squad, particularly their leader. "Ash?"

The young man blinked. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like it."

"Does it have something to do with those?" said the Vulpix-girl in a kawaii voice. She was looking at something above her. Rika, Ash, and the others looked up to see what she was referring to.

They saw a series of golden swords, made purely out of light. They formed a ring around the fiery ruins, and blocked off about one kilometers worth of area. Floating past the swords was a little creature with brown fur and tiny paws. It was holding a slim but long ankh like it was a musket.

"That's a Kuribo," Ash noted. "One of the kids I battled earlier used one."

"And those swords must be what's making the barrier," Rika added. "And that Kuribo seems to be holding something else. I doubt a wand that big goes with something that puny." Kuribo seemed to hear this, and growled at Rika as it passed.

"I'll scan it," said Ash. He pushed a button on his Duel Ark. "This thing can scan monsters and card effects like a Pokedex can scan Pokemon, so it should be able to tell us what the deal is."

**Ankh of Enchantment  
**** Equipment Magic Card  
** EFFECT: Choose 1 Magic Card you've played. That card's duration becomes "Permanent" as long as the ankh and the creature holding it are in play.  


"Well there you have it. Somebody's put up a magical barrier, and that Kuribo is keeping it active with that Ankh."

"Who would do something like that?" Rika groaned. "We can't help anybody if this thing is in the way." Rika beat on the barrier generated by the swords, and did little more than make the air vibrate visibly. "Why would somebody want to keep us out?"

"Maybe they don't want us to get hurt," Ash suggested. "Could your friend have done it?"

"No, he doesn't have any cards like this," Rika said. "And besides, he wouldn't keep me out like this, even if he was worried about my safety. Somebody else had to 'ave done it."

Ash frowned. "Well, we could try flying over the swords, but I doubt that would work. I heard these Magic cards tend to be really powerful."

"Then we'll just have to do something about that Kuribo," Rika said. "And fast. I don't know who did this, but if Henry or my friends get hurt... I won't be able to forgive myself."

"Then let's get to work, people!" shouted a Squirtle Squad member. "We have a Kuribo to antagonize!" The turtle-men marched comically along the barrier, spouting comments at the creature and trying to make it drop the ankh or the barrier. And strangely enough, they seemed to be succeeding in making the fiend angry.

Rika and Ash looked at each other, shrugged, and joined the squirtle-men in taunting the Kuribo.

~ ~ ~ ~

Rapidmon was on the defensive. If the Black Luster Soldier scored another hit, it was all over for him and Henry. Henry was frantically trying to sift through the cards in his deck by powering up Rapidmon for a few seconds at a time, and launching quick attacks at the Soldier in the hopes of weakening her enough for Rapidmon to deal damage. But the Soldier was persistent, and Zero was good at preventing Henry from making any real progress. Henry was starting to lose hope.

_I'm running out of ideas,_ the boy thought. _I need a powerful card, now!_ He reloaded his hand, and got a card that might help him turn the tides.

"Unexpected Sadness!" Henry's card took effect when he slashed it and sent its energy into the Black Luster Soldier. The soldier suddenly felt a wave of depression hit her, and it showed. The soldier trembled, sagged to her knees, and lowered her head.

"Get up and fight!!" Zero ordered. "Don't let his tricks fool you!" Luster Soldier pulled herself up and slashed at Rapidmon again. But the attack lacked force.

"Henry, what's happening to her?" Rapidmon asked. He was glad he wasn't getting chopped to bits, but this card's effects were disturbing to the digimon.

"The card will make her progressively weaker," Henry said. "...At least in game terms. I don't know what it really does."

The Luster Soldier approached Rapidmon and took another swing, but didn't make it far enough. She fell to her knees again, and seemed to lose all energy. The Luster Soldier started to cry. It seemed Henry's card was living up to its name.

"Do not let yourself submit to him!" Zero ordered. "Stand and fight, like a warrior!" Despite the intensity of Zero's order, the Luster Soldier did not respond. She seemed to have lost the will to live.

"I'm... sorry," Rapidmon said softly. The Luster Soldier looked up, nodded again, and gently pushed him back. When Rapidmon was a safe distance away, the Luster Soldier submitted to the final effects of Henry's card. In game terms, the monster attacked itself. In reality, she took her own sword and stabbed herself in the heart. The Luster Soldier fell to the ground, dead.

**** Zero:** 2599 LP **

The "Monster Reborn" tablet shattered as its effects were expended. Zero growled in irritation, as he realized that this boy was fighting back and winning!

"All right!!" Rapidmon cheered. "Let's finish him off Henry!"

"Right!" Henry reached down to redraw his hand. But even after refilling his hand, Henry didn't get anything useful. He had to hope the next monster Zero summoned was fairly weak.

"You've insulted me for the last time, boy!" Zero lifted his hand and summoned a gigantic demon with the appropriate tablet. The "Summoned Skull" roared to the sky as it charged up its powerful lightning attack. Rapidmon's damaged armor would do little against an electrical attack.

"Henry..." Rapidmon said with concern. "Now's the time to slash a card!"

"That's just it! I've used up all my good cards! I don't have anything that can help!!"

Rapidmon backed up as Summoned Skull's power reached its crescendo. "Well do _something_!! Otherwise it's lights out for us!"

_Come on, Rika..._ Henry prayed. _You're my only hope. I need a miracle, NOW!_

The Demon Rain came down as a ball of lightning, with the intent of splitting up into smaller bolts. But something flew across the field like a bullet and disrupted the path of the ball. The object ricocheted off the Demon Rain attack, causing it to burst prematurely. The bolts of lightning went towards the closest target - which happened to be the Summoned Skull at that height. The demon's organic parts were incinerated by his own attack!

A single Yen coin landed in the center of the field, a little crispy but intact.

** **Zero:** 1299 LP **

"What is this!?" Zero cried as his monster's tablet shattered behind him.

And at that moment, Henry's Duel Ark screamed in alarm. Zero's barrier was weak enough to ignore! "Rapidmon-fire!!"

The digimon wasted no time and blasted away with everything he had. Every missile in his shoulder pods were launched at Zero. The duelist tried to block them as he had the other attacks, but his energy was now too low to block them all. Half the missiles pierced his barrier and exploded at point-blank range. Zero was drowned in a series of explosions, and Henry was forced to cover his ears to keep from going deaf. Rapidmon's attack sounded like a nuclear assault.

And with that, it ended. Henry's Duel Ark confirmed the kill.

** **Zero:** 0 LP **

It took a moment for the boy to comprehend what just happened. As the smoke cleared, Henry saw no trace of his opponent. Jeri was lying underneath a pile of dirt and rock kicked up by the explosions. Aside from a few burns, she was alive. And the threat to her was dealt with.

"I... can't believe... we just did that," Henry said between breaths. "We killed him."

"...Not quite," Rapidmon said. He craned his neck and sniffed. "I can smell him."

"Smell him?"

"...Yes. He disappeared when he ran out of energy, but he's still alive. His data just went somewhere else. And really quickly, too."

"His data?" Henry replied with a start. "Are you saying he's...?"

"I'm saying he'll be back." Rapidmon crossed his arms over his chest. "And we'd better be ready for him." The digimon shrank into the form of Terriermon and disappeared into the Duel Ark to recharge.

"Mmm..." Jeri moaned.

"Jeri!" Henry ran over to where the girl lay and pulled her to a sitting position. "You're alright!"

The girl coughed and tried to regain her bearings. She felt horrible, but she recognized Henry's voice. She blinked as she tried to clear the dirt from her eyes. "Ta...kato? Where's Takato!"

Henry frowned. "I... I'm sorry."

Jeri was afraid of what that meant. She waited for Henry to say something else, but no reversal came. Jeri broke down and started to cry into Henry's chest. The boy was about to join her, but a series of footsteps got his attention.

"Who's there!" he shouted. An outline appeared in the dust, and Henry feared the worst. But as the figure approached, Henry saw that it wasn't the man he'd been fighting before. It was another player, wearing a Duel Ark. His hair was wild, like Zero's had been, but it was colored differently. He was a teenager, which led Henry to assume he was a Duelist like Joey. At least, he hoped he was like Joey. There was a chance it was one of the "scary" duelists.

"...I'm glad I got here when I did," said the young man.

"Was it you who tossed the coin during that battle?"

"It was."

"Who are you?" Henry asked carefully. No normal player would have thought to use a metal object to disrupt the flow of an electrical attack. And a normal _person_ couldn't actually do it.

"My name is Yugi," the man said in a deep, powerful voice. "Yugi Muto."

Henry gasped. _Yugi... the one in the newspaper! The one who killed Panik!_

Yami noted the boy's expression. "You... know of me?"

"Stay back!" Henry shouted as he cradled Jeri. "This doesn't concern you!"

"That is Jeri Katou. She and I have some business to settle."

"No more!!" Jeri cried. She was whimpering in Henry's arms like a little child. "No more..."

_Look at her,_ Yugi thought. _She's suffering so much._

_It's her destiny to suffer._ Yami slowly stepped forward, his fists clenched tightly. _I must relieve her of her pain, once and for all._

"Stay BACK!!" Henry shouted. Yami stopped a few feet away. "Stay back or I'll...!"

_Yami please, I'm begging you. Don't do this. Destroying her soul is not the answer. Would you do this if it was Tea?_

_Juri... was to me what Tea is to you, Yugi. A dear friend, that I could not imagine life without. But I must do this. The world is threatened as long as she exists._

_If you kill her, then you will be killing me too!_ Yugi's soul hovered over Jeri like a guardian angel. Yami froze in terror.

_Aibou!_

_You promised me once that you would never go against my wishes again! Yugi reminded him. It was after Kaiba defeated us at Duelist Kingdom! You swore that we would work together, or together we would fall!_

Yami was paralyzed with indecision. Although Yugi was incorporeal, he could place himself in the path of his psychic attack. If Yami tried to destroy Jeri's soul, Yugi would be destroyed as well. And Yami could feel Yugi's determination. The boy would go through with it if he had to.

_I... remember._ Yami lowered his head. _But if Juri's power is fully released, I will lose everything I care about. I don't want to experience that pain again._

_I know..._ Yugi stepped forward and put a hand on his other self's heart. _I know. But together, we can do something. There must be a way to save her, and the world. _

Henry stared up at the teenager, who looked as terrified as Jeri did. What was wrong with him?

_You've been searching for a way as well_, Yugi continued. _You've been looking through your memories... the memories I saw when I was dreaming. You care about this girl's past self. I can feel it._

Yami's eyes closed as he felt old emotions bubble to the surface. The memories weighed heavily on his soul. _There is no other way. Even with my powers as Pharaoh, there was nothing I could do in the past. I could not save the girl who first touched my heart._

Jeri gasped as she looked up. Yami looked down, and their eyes locked. For a moment, she seemed to pierce his soul and see the truth. She showed the spark of remembrance, but it was like remembering a dream. Her memory disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The moment faded. Jeri closed her eyes and curled herself against Henry once again. It was like she was waiting for the inevitable.

_Tell them,_ Yugi said softly. _They will understand. I know it._ Yugi faded into the background, and Yami returned his attention to the real world. Henry was looking at him fiercely and still holding Jeri protectively.

"I... need your help." Yami bowed his head slightly. "To save Jeri. And our world."

Henry was skeptical. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Yami drew a switchblade from his pocket, startling Henry. He could have disarmed the teen easily, had he not been holding Jeri at the same time. The girl cringed slightly; she must've heard the blade being drawn.

"An ancient custom, but one I take very seriously." Yami placed the tip of the blade on the upper half of his arm.

_Oh my God,_ Yugi gasped. _You're not going to-!_

Yami closed his eyes and drew the blade across his skin, slowly and precisely. Henry watched uneasily as the teen made a long, deep cut from his bicep to the middle of his underarm. Yami gritted his teeth during the painful process. When he was finished, he threw the knife into the ground at his feet.

"I swear on my life that I won't let any harm come to Jeri. That is my solemn oath." As he said those words, drops of his blood fell to the earth. A thunder clap sounded above him as the passing storm died down.

Henry stared into the teen's eyes, and Yami stared back with equal intensity. That intensity was all Henry needed to see. "Okay. Then help me get her out of here. We have a lot to talk about."

Yami bent down, and gently took Jeri into his arms. Henry limped his way out of the fire, and Yami followed him in silence. The switchblade was left in the dirt like Excalibur, the legendary sword of a long-dead king.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sakura's eyes opened. She sat up stiffly, and looked to her right in a westerly direction. Her eyes were locked precisely on En'Dal's location, many miles away.

_THIS UNIT DETECTS THAT ZERO-KA HAS BEEN MOMENTARILY DISRUPTED. JURI-KA REMAINS WITHIN ITS HOST._ Sakura then turned and looked straight ahead as it began a self-analysis. _THIS UNIT WAS ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THE MILLENNIUM PUZZLE. MAKING BASELINE ADJUSTMENTS TO SHELL PERSONALITY._

The duelBot instilled a phobia-level fear of the Millennium Puzzle in her false personality's program. That way, when she was recharging her onboard battle systems, her shell would not want to touch the puzzle again. When the modifications were completed, Sakura stepped out of bed and walked lightly across the room. Her nightie swished lightly in the night breeze.

At the open window, Sakura gazed into the night sky. _THIS UNIT'S BATTLE SCHEMATICS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED 3.53% TO COMPENSATE FOR THE PHARAOH KA'S TACTICS. THIS UNIT IS READY TO ATTEMPT A FULL-ON ASSAULT. SENDING QUERY TO CENTRAL DATABASE._

Sakura opened her mouth, and started to sing. On the surface, the song sounded like a somber melody about the beauty of the night, and how love knew no boundaries. But hidden within the song was a subliminal message that only the most advanced machines could understand and translate. It was the pre-set method for her to transmit radio messages.

Mokuba awoke and listened to the song. Slowly, he smiled. "That's beautiful, Sakura."

The duelBot paused for a moment, and quickly uploaded her shell personality's language processor. It was difficult for the AI to speak like her shell did, but it was necessary at times. "Does it bother you?"

"No... keep singing."

Sakura smiled fiendishly, but kept that hidden by not turning around. "Thank you, Mokuba." The duelBot continued her transmission, and awaited her orders. Within seconds of the song's completion, she received her answer.

_ATTACK PHARAOH-KA. CAPTURE ALL KA ENCOUNTERED. RELEASE FINAL LOCKS ON BATTLE SYSTEM._

Sakura's eyes glowed gold as the final command was processed. With the final locks released on her battle system, nothing would stand in her way.

But first, she had to deal with her shell personality's little friend, Mokuba.

~ ~ ~ ~

[Eye of Ra]

Zero stepped up to the massive supercomputer that governed his island. The main monitor and the advanced keyboard that controlled it were all that was visible. But there was more to this computer than Zero could see. Even he didn't understand its limits. Zero was this machine's master, but he needed it to exist. This machine was the god of this island, and without it Zero was nothing.

"The boy with Joey was stronger than I expected," Zero said grimly. "With Joey's aid, he was able to defeat me. I was forced to reboot."

"Master, your body in this world is strong, but not invulnerable," the computer said. "Your body can be rebooted indefinitely, but each reboot stretches the limits of your spirit. I recommend you avoid direct confrontation until Exodia has been captured."

"...That is not my way," Zero replied icily. "The Pharaoh relied on my strength to protect him from his father's enemies. I do not hide from my enemies."

"Understood. But magic and technology have never worked well together. Your powers are not at their full potential while in a digital body. You must exercise caution." The monitor went black and displayed the symbol of a golden ankh. The computer was deep in analysis, and would likely be so for a few hours. Zero had to busy himself.

"He's right. My powers are nowhere near their full strength in this accursed body." Zero focused on his hand intensely, causing it to fizzle in and out of existence like a television image filled with static. He stopped himself before he did any real damage to this form.

"Jeri was in my hands, but I did not find the opportunity to escape. As fast as I am, I cannot outrun their monsters. Not yet." Zero stepped lightly across the marble floor until he was standing at the room's center. A massive mural of Ra's eye rested at his feet.

"But when I free Exodia, and bask in his light, I will achieve my true form. And then, within the Room of Stars, I will destroy this universe and remake it in my own image." Zero raised his arms to the sky, and stared into the limelight that led up to the Room he was speaking of. It was so close, and yet beyond his reach. For now.

"In the meantime, the players on the island are using my Arks to fight their petty battles." Zero closed his eyes and sensed the power residing below him, in the hidden room where Exodia's tablets now rested. The stone battery in the room's center was almost half full. The data expenditure on the island was proceeding smoothly, and the battery would be at maximum capacity on schedule.

"By the time the tournament is at its end, Exodia's battery will be full. And then, the ritual with Jeri and Sakura will be ready to commence. All that data will become Exodia's Chrysalis, and my shadow powers will make it real. I will be the new master of the Forbidden One."

Zero's laughter echoed throughout the room. The chaos he would create would be magnificent.

~ ~ ~ ~

[En'Dal || Morning of Day 2]

"No answer," Henry said grumpily as he hung up his cell phone. He'd tried for the last half hour to call his father and ask what was going on in the outside world. Probably panic, if anyone was watching this tournament on television. Henry was surprised the military hadn't tried to invade. "I'm not even getting a busy signal. It's like the satellite is completely gone."

"The signal is either being blocked or disrupted," Rika replied. "If we're really in the Digital World like you say, then I'm not surprised. I don't know what the outside world is seeing, but there's no way they could be seeing us."

Ash flexed his right hand to crack his knuckles. "I know you've explained this to me once already Rika. But explain again why I'm here? If this is a Digital World, then doesn't that mean its a Digimon Tamers problem?"

"I don't know what's going on, to be honest." Rika scratched her forehead. "Zero brought us all here by boat, and somehow we're trapped in another world. I don't get it."

"Not quite trapped," Henry said. He lifted his arm to show off his ark. "These have something to do with it."

"But taking them off doesn't seem to change anything," Rika said, a bit more excited than before. "Taking them off means we can't do any of the water-breathing adaptation crap. But it doesn't take us back to the real world. We can still see each other if we take them off, so we're not going anywhere."

"I think it's like a modem versus a broadband," Henry suggested.

Ash blinked. "Whaaa?"

"A modem is a smaller connection than an internet cable. The cable is the better connection, and its gives you a whole lot more data at a much faster rate. I think the same thing is going on here."

Rika nodded slowly. "Wearing the Duel Ark makes our connection to the Digital World stronger. Sort of like our old D-Arcs did."

"Though nowhere near as strong as these do," Henry corrected. He glanced down at the Duel Ark, awe in his eyes. "These things are powerful beyond belief."

Ash looked outside the room window. The city was bustling from the recent emergency. The Squirtle Squad was still putting out the forest fire, now that Yugi Muto had recalled his Kuribo and broken his spell. The city residents were scared and excited by the recent events, and there was some panicking going on. The local officials (pokemon furries dressed as guards and knights) were busy trying to calm the people down while dealing with the fire. The human players were resting in the local inn while Jeri and Joey rested next door.

"Takato's body..." Ash started. He didn't continue, because he didn't know how to say it without hurting the other two's feelings. Hearing Takato's name visibly hurt the tamers.

"The Squad took him to the hospital," Henry said evenly. "Players are expected to use the inn, but the hospital is also real enough to function. I guess they took him to... the mortuary."

"Don't say that!!" Rika shouted. Henry didn't look up. Rika suppressed her tearful gasps and sat down on the bed once again.

Ash wanted to say something to soothe their pain, but he didn't know what to say. Brock would know. He was good at easing people's pain. He did it when Ash heard about Misty's chances of being forever crippled. Ash didn't have that kind of skill with words.

A light knock on the door broke the silence. Yugi quietly stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. He saw all the sad faces, and knew instantly what they were thinking about. "I wish there was something-"

"Shut up!!" Rika shouted. "It was one of you Duelists who killed him!!" Rika charged from the bed and tried to punch Yugi, but Ash was quick enough to grab her and hold her back. Henry rushed over to help, while Yugi cringed against the door.

Rika started to cry, but she didn't let up. "Bastard!!" She struggled a few moments more, but Ash and Henry held strong. Eventually, she stopped trying and let her head fall into Henry's shoulder. She was more comfortable with him, and at this moment she needed a lot of comfort.

Yugi glanced at Henry for help. The tamer looked down at Yugi's arm, which had been bandaged to stop the bleeding his oath had caused. He shook his head lightly, and held Rika as he whispered some comforting words to her.

"We'd better get our stuff packed," Ash said with a heavy heart. "With all that's happened, I think the tournament is going to be canceled."

"Not exactly," Yugi said, still frowning. "I just spoke with Kaiba. He tried to call ahead, but apparently the docks are locked up. There aren't any ships, anywhere. He tried to call his little brother Mokuba, but there was no answer. Cell phones don't seem to be working anymore."

"They worked before," Ash said. "Rika and Henry were talking before she woke me up and told me about her friend being in trouble."

"...Somebody's blocking all the signals," Henry said, still holding Rika. "I'm betting it's Zero. He's after something called a Ka. That is why he had Takato killed."

"Kaiba told me," Yugi said regretfully. "He doesn't know how, but somebody put him into a trance and took control of his body and mind."

"A likely story," Rika growled. "He's just saying that to cover his tracks." She lifted her head from Henry's shoulder and slowly let go of him.

"I know Kaiba, and he wouldn't kill Takato when he could defeat him instead. Kaiba's cruel, but he's not a murderer."

"...Apparently you are, though," Henry said icily. "I've heard from some reliable sources that you've killed players at Duelist Kingdom."

Yugi was about to protest, but his memory caught up with him. He had killed some people. Or rather, Yami had. Before Yugi even realized that he had another self, he'd fought players whom he considered 'evil', and thus punished them when they lost to him. Panik was one of them. Even before Duelist Kingdom, he'd done the same thing to more mundane people. Like the gym teacher who tried to rape Tea by sending her a card and signing it with Yugi's name. Yugi had passed judgment on people, and sent them to their deaths.

"You have nothing to say in your defense?" Rika snapped. "Then it's true?"

Yami was about to come out and defend his aibou, but Yugi stopped him with a thought. _Please, let me handle this._

_You did not do those things Yugi. I did._

_You and I are the same. We must face the punishment together._

Yugi remained firm. "Takato is an innocent. Panik was trying to kill me and hurt my friends. I had no choice."

Ash frowned. "Protecting yourself and your friends by killing? Isn't that a little... much?"

"Not against those guys," Yugi said softly. "I've seen some scary people. And sometimes, I've had to kill to protect myself, or save my friends from death. I regret doing it, but I'll do anything to protect my friends. Anything."

Henry thought of all the times he's destroyed a Digimon in order to protect the people he loved. Digimon and Humans were inherently different, but the policy on death was the same. Even though he believed that killing a thinking being was wrong, Henry understood the need for protection.

"I hope you're telling the truth," Henry said. "Because if you're not, then you're no better than the people you killed."

Yugi nodded. "I understand."

"I don't," Ash said. "But, I'll go with Henry on this one." The trainer went to the nearest wall and leaned against it. "So what do we do? We can't leave, and we can't call for help."

"We have to stop Zero," Yugi said. "By entering his castle and facing him again."

"I've already beaten him once." Henry tossed his cell phone into his bag. "But my... friend says that he'll be back. I find it hard to believe, since I incinerated him though."

"A little much," Ash said again. Henry glared at him, but the trainer wasn't perturbed.

"I remember," Yugi said quickly, before another argument could break out. "He was wearing something around his neck. A strange pendant shaped like my puzzle." Yugi lifted his millennium item by the chain to show it off. "But it was black. And it was... different, in a way that I can't explain."

_It had a different kind of power, unlike that of a millennium item,_ Yami helped. Yugi did not relay this to the group, as he didn't want to reveal his "magical" nature to them. They were suspicious enough as it was.

"It glowed during the fight at certain times," Henry recalled. "I think it let him summon monsters like our Duel Arks do, and it also made that barrier that protected him from direct damage. But he didn't have any cards that I could see. He had... tablets."

Yugi gasped, and Yami felt similar alarm in his subconscious state. _Tablets?_

"So he didn't have to draw or anything?" Ash asked. "That gives him quite an advantage. But why does he get to use these tablets if I can't use my pokeballs?"

"He's not in this for the tournament," Rika said, finally joining the conversation. "He's in it for himself. There are no rules. But since he's trapped everyone here, it doesn't matter anymore if there are rules or not."

"It's better if you use the ark," Henry said to the trainer. "You can't protect yourself if you just use your pokeballs."

"I guess you're right." Ash pulled out his Pokedex and flipped it open. A bunch of noisy static came from it, forcing the trainer to close it immediately. "Aghh..."

"What's wrong?"

"I was going to see what the News had to say. But it's an online sort of thing, so I guess I can't get any updates while I'm here on the island." Ash pocketed his device. "Bummer. I was hoping I'd get an e-mail from Brock today."

"About Misty?" Rika asked. She doubted he would be irritated if the mail was about something else.

He nodded. "Her surgery was supposed to be done by now. I wanted to know how it went."

"Well... I'm sure she's just fine," Rika said with a forced smile. The recent events with Takato and Jeri were making it difficult for her to smile.

"I hope you're right." Ash looked back, but Rika dropped her gaze before long.

Yugi turned and opened the door. "I'm going to check on Joey and your friend. We can talk about what to do when we're sure they're okay." The teen continued out the door and stepped across the hall. The room he left was uneasily quiet.

"Do you think we can trust him?" Henry said eventually.

"He knows the duelist who killed Takato," Rika said sharply. "Brainwashed or not, it was that man that killed our friend. I'm never going to trust a Duelist."

Henry glanced to the opposite side of the room. "What about you?"

Ash breathed loudly as he thought. "I don't know. He seems like a nice guy. But there's something about him that makes me worry. Gary was the same way. One moment he'd seem like a nice guy. And the next, he'd turn on you."

"We can't trust him," Rika said. "He sliced his arm open with a knife. And he wears an upside pyramid around his neck. He's not normal."

"My grandfather always told me never to judge a person by their appearance," Henry said. "And I'm finding that a lot of things on this island are different than they appear to be. I don't trust Yugi, but I keep wondering if he really is a good person. I don't want to insult somebody who might honestly want to help us."

Rika looked up. "...What if we're wrong?"

Ash stood up straight. "There's always a chance we're wrong. But there's also a chance that he's telling the truth. And if he is, then we'll be better off. If he's telling the truth and we don't believe him, he might not help us."

"We don't need him," Rika affirmed. "The three of us can beat Zero on our own."

"Yugi seems to know something about Zero that we don't," Henry said. "He was hiding something about Zero's black pendant. I could see it in his eyes."

Ash smiled lightly. "You really want to trust him."

"Joey is a Duelist, and his deck is powerful," Henry replied. "Maybe even stronger than mine. Yugi is the champion of Duelist Kingdom, meaning he's the strongest Duelist in the world. If our lives are in danger, I think we'll need someone with his strength on our side. If we leave him on his own, he might try to attack us the way Seto Kaiba attacked Takato."

The room went silent at that.

"...I say we risk it," Henry finished. "For Jeri's sake."

Rika considered that, and eventually came up with a reply. "If you think he's okay, then I'm with you. You're a better judge of character than me. Except with Ryo."

"_Including_ Ryo," Henry corrected. "Don't strike him off the list just yet."

"Who's Ryo?" Ash asked.

"Nobody," Rika said quickly. "I'm in."

Henry frowned at Rika's comment, but let it slide for now. "Well Ketchum? What do you say?"

"...Alright." Ash walked towards the door. "But I'm going to be watching him very closely." The trainer opened the door and stepped across the hall to the opposite room.

"I'll sleep better knowing that," Henry said. Rika nodded silently in agreement.

~ ~ ~ ~

"You're not coming with us?" Yugi said, surprised. "But Kaiba, we could really use your help."

"I'm concerned about Zero, but not because of your kindergarten friends," Seto replied. Ash frowned at his comment, but said nothing as he helped a Chansey nurse tend to both Jeri and Joey.

"Then what are you going to do? You can't be thinking of taking him on by yourself."

"Eventually, yes." Seto crossed his arms defiantly. Or defensively, depending on what the elder Kaiba was thinking. "But I'm worried about Mokuba and Sakura."

"Sakura?" Yugi hadn't heard that name before.

"...A friend of Mokuba's. Whatever Zero did to me, I can feel that he made me do something horrible to her." For a moment, Seto actually looked concerned. But his cold exterior covered it up quickly.

"I understand that you're worried about Mokuba," Yugi continued. "But please, once you find them, consider joining us in the fight against Zero. Our chances of defeating him are much higher if we work together, rather than separately."

"I won't need your help, and I don't want any little Poke-brats or Digi-dorks dragging me down."

Ash scowled at the older Kaiba. "Pikachu and I could take you, any day."

Seto chuckled. "I doubt that. I would love to show you why, but I have more important matters to attend to." The duelist turned around, his coat swishing lightly, and walked halfway out the door before Yugi stopped him.

"Kaiba! Good luck, and please don't do anything rash. Think seriously about joining us before you try to face Zero alone."

"...I will." He shut the door as he left, leaving Ash and Yugi on their own.

~ ~ ~ ~

"So that's your great plan?" Rika griped. "Continue getting Crests? Why bother following the rules at this point? We should just charge the castle and kick that bastard's ass."

Yugi was amazed that such a little girl had such a nasty temperament. "Well, I guess you could try that. But do you honestly think we can get in that way?"

"Why couldn't we? It's just a castle."

Henry shook his head. "Normally I'd agree, but this isn't just any island we're on. Zero probably has enough defenses around his castle to survive a nuclear assault. If we're going to get in there, we'll have to unlock the gates by solving the riddle he mentions in the rulebook."

"There are twelve Crests on the island," Rika said, reading from her own copy of the booklet. "And you need four Crests to get into the castle. So only three people on the island even have a chance."

"There are only three Crests that haven't been captured yet - Vritra [dragon], Catsura [dog], and Sindura [rooster]. It's only a matter of time before the players go after each other to get the Crests they need."

"And more people will get hurt," Ash said with regret.

"The nurse told me that there is a rumor going around about a 'special' Crest hidden on the island. The special Crest is supposed to give you access to the castle as if you had four Crests. If one of us gets that Crest, and the other three get four of their own, we can enter the castle as a group."

"I can't believe we have to play by Zero's rules," Rika fumed. "It's pathetic."

"It might be the only way into the castle," Henry replied. "We can try getting in by force, but there's gotta be some kind of special defense set up that prevents players from doing that. Otherwise, someone would have already broken into the castle and found the Star Road."

Yugi nodded. "I don't have any Crests yet, so I'm going to find out more about this special Crest. This island is designed a lot like an RPG game, so asking around should give me the clues I need to find it."

"The rest of us can split up and collect the Crests we need," Henry added. "And then we'll meet back here."

Rika remembered the readout from before that told who had a Crest. "Somebody should pick up Takato's Crest, then."

"No," Yugi said. "...Leave it. He's still on the team. Let him hold onto it until we need it."

Rika smiled faintly at that. "...Yeah. Takato's still on the team."

"What am I going to tell Joey?" Henry frowned. "He has a Crest too, and I doubt he'll just give it up."

"...Leave that to me," Yugi said. "Joey and I are best friends. He'll understand that this is for a good cause. He can protect Jeri and keep us up to date when we report back to En'Dal, too."

"You sure it's safe to leave Jeri here with him?" Rika said, concerned.

"If it wasn't for Joey, Zero would have taken Jeri for sure," Henry vouched. "If anyone should stay with her, it's him."

Ash smirked. "If one of us wins, we can give him the prize as a fee. If he wants it."

"Oh, he'll definitely want it." Henry and Yugi laughed knowingly. In the short time he'd known him, Henry had learned what kind of person Joey was.

"Okay, then let's get out there and get some Crests." Rika held her hand out. "For our friends."

Ash did the same. "For our friends."

Henry nodded. "For our friends."

Yugi looked at each child, one by one, and saw the faces of his friends overlapping theirs. Even in this strange competition, Yugi had found some people that he could trust. These children truly understood the power of unity. "For our friends."

The four players gave out a cheer, and shot their hands into the sky. The battle was just beginning!

*** _Cut Scene Series _***

MUSIC: "I'd Do Anything!"

Scene

_Rika stares down a mighty bird monster, whose body encompasses the entire room. Sinduramon growls malisciously at the insolent tamer before him._

She simply smiles. "10 seconds."

/Scene

Another day is going by

I'm thinking about you all the time

But you're out there and I'm here waiting

And I 

Wrote this letter in my head

Cause so may things were left unsaid

But now your gone and I can't think straight

Scene

_Catsuramon pounces on Rapidmon, who struggles against the powerful canine deva. The beast sends a shard of marble flying in Henry's direction. The tamer ducks and rolls, narrowly avoiding the flying material._

This could be the one last chance to make you understand

__

Henry slashes a single card, and a massive force builds up in Rapidmon's hands. The digimon lets it loose on Catsuramon's stomach, and incinerates the creature with one powerful strike.

/Scene

I'd do any~thing!

Just to hold you in my arms

To try to make you laugh

Somehow I can't put you in the past

I'd do any~thing!

Just to fall asleep with you

Will you remember me cause I know I won't forget you

Scene

_Jeri sits in a garden of En'Dal, with a family of baby poke-kids playing around her. She has a somber expression her face. An image of Takato smiles appears behind her, representing the thoughts in her mind._

Joey puts a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. Jeri seems unreactive.

Desperate to lighten the mood, the teen joins the babies in a playful romp. Joey's antics make Jeri smile slowly.

/Scene

I close my eyes

And all I see is you

Scene

_Rika and Bones are locked in a fierce battle. Bones has summoned a literal army of Zombies through a creative play. Rika is surrounded on all sides by the undead, and they are shambling in for the kill._

I close my eyes

I try to sleep I can't forget you

(Nanana, nanana)

And I'd do anything for you

(Nanana, nanana)

The tamer holds up Renamon's card, which shines like the sun.

I'd do any~thing!

Just to hold you in my arms

To try to make you laugh

Somehow I can't put you in the past

__

The rookie flashes in and out of sight like lightning, and slices the army to ribbons.

I'd do any~thing!

Just to fall asleep with you

...to fall asleep with you, yeah

Bones whimpers pathetically before falling to the ground in exasperation. Rika smirks confidently and flashes a "V for Victory" sign at her camera'mon - a flying Patamon wearing a pink rag, an artist's cap, and a fake moustache.

/Scene

I'd do any~thing!

To fall asleep with you

I'd do any~thing!

There's nothing I want...

I'd do any~thing!

To fall asleep with you

I'd do any~thing!

Cause I know I won't forget you...!

*** _End Cut Scene Series ***_

~ ~ ~ ~

**** Monster Duel Ex - Mid-Day Standings - Day Two **  
_Crests Captured: _**12 of 12.  


**Four Crests  
**Rika Nonaka (Makura, Sindura, Vikarala, Kunbira)  
**__**

Three Crests  
Kao Umbreon (Santira, Vajra, Vritra)  
Henry Wong (Antira, Pajira, Catsura)  


**_One Crest  
_**Ash Ketchum (Indra)  
Takato Matsuki (Mihira)  


~ ~ ~ ~

[Nalum Highroad || 3:48 PM]

Ash strolled through the plains, keeping his eyes open for any movements on the surrounding hills. His ark said there was another player in this area, and the rumor in the last village was that the player was none other than Kao Umbreon, one of the leaders of the tournament. Ash needed to face Kao in order to get four Crests, so that he could enter the Crystal Castle. The winning trophy, and the villainous Zero, were both there waiting for him.

A bicyclist peddled rapidly in his direction. Ash held up his hand in the hopes of getting her attention. "Hey!"

"Out of the way!!" the girl shouted. She peddled past Ash so quickly that she nearly ran over his feet. Ash was just barely able to leap out of the way.

"What's the rush!?" Ash shouted indignantly.

"Kao's coming! Ru~n!" Her voice drowned out in the distance.

Ash dusted himself off and resumed his walk. "That's what I'm hoping for."

After a few dozen steps, Ash came to a fork in the road and was amazed at what he saw there. Standing at the divide was an imposing figure dressed in a black outfit that obscured everything but his eyes. It was like a ninja's outfit, only outfitted with accessories designed for fashion rather than subterfuge. He had a Duel Ark on his arm, and a black cape swooshing behind him. It reminded Ash of the figure that Henry mentioned fighting, but it was subtly different. For one, this person couldn't have had hair as wild as Henry claimed. It would be impossible to fit it underneath the ninja mask.

Ash stopped when he was within speaking distance. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for someone."

"I'm not surprised," said the stranger. 

The instant Ash heard his voice, he was petrified. He recognized that voice...

"Long time no see, Ashey-boy." The man pulled his mask off and revealed the face of a boy. His hair was brown and spiky, and his eyes were equally brown. His features were sharp and twisted, like an angry dog's muzzle. At the same time, he seemed amused by the person he was speaking too.

"....Gary." Ash's fists trembled as he squeezed them as tightly as humanly possible. He drew blood from his nails cutting into his palm.

"Gary Oak, in the flesh. Or 'Kao Umbreon', as I'm known by in these parts. I think that was a clever nickname. Changing 'Oak' to 'Kao', and adding my favorite Pokemon's name to the end. Don't you think that's clever, Ash?"

The trainer scowled. "...I've been wanting to see you again. After that battle with Misty, I've been thinking about you a lot."

"Are you still mad about that?" Gary teased. The tone of his voice made it painstakingly obvious. "It was just a mis-aimed attack. Honest. A law-abiding league trainer like myself wouldn't hurt somebody. Even someone as annoying as her."

Ash ran forward to give Gary the beating of his life, but his attack was cut short by Gary's duel ark. The machine activated and sent out a wave of energy to create his LPB. The barrier knocked Ash a good distance away before putting him flat on his back. Gary laughed as Ash slowly sat up.

"You're so unprofessional, Ashey-boy. A real trainer should expect to get hurt. You act as if what I did to your girlfriend was unexpected. Any trainer worth his salt has to do everything in his power to win a battle. Soldiers don't win battles by pussy-footing."

"Misty's not a soldier, and neither are you," Ash growled. "We're kids, playing a sport."

"Open your eyes, Ash. A real sportsman will do anything to win, and I'm no different." Gary switched his stance into one ready for a card battle. "And I'll show you what I mean by beating you into a pulp before I take your Crest."

Ash wanted so badly to just pull out Pikachu's pokeball and send Gary to the hospital for a month. But Ash's mother didn't raise a fool, or a cheat. Ash would avenge Misty the right way - by beating Gary fair-and-square. He would do it, even if he had to use a bunch of cards instead of his actual pokemon.

"A Partner Battle, for all our Crests," Ash offered. "If you win, you get my Crest. If I win, I get your Crests."

"Most trainers would consider that an unbalanced bet," Gary chided. "But I know that I'm going to win. So there's no reason for me to be concerned."

Ash smirked at his rival's subtleness. "...Alright." The trainer reached beneath his jacket, pulled out two pokeballs, and held them between his fingers. "Two pokemon to make up for the two Crests I don't have. Pikachu and Lugia."

Gary whistled in amazement. "Ashey-boy means business today. I already said I didn't care about the bet. But if you insist, I'll take your pokemon off your hands as well."

Ash tossed the two pokeballs at his feet. "This is it, Gary. It's been a long time since we've faced each other, and it's time for us to find out which of us has grown the most since our Pokemon journey began."

Both trainers brought their Duel Arks to life and readied themselves for a fight. Partner versus partner, pokemon versus pokemon, rival against rival. Ash was fighting for his friends, and only Gary knew what he was after. 

But Ash had a feeling, he would soon find out.


	9. Rivals! Hidden Power Evolution!

----------------------------------------------------

****

"Kao Umbreon" vs. "Ash Ketchum"

Partner Battle - Umbreon vs. Pikachu

----------------------------------------------------

Gary calmly brought Umbreon into play with the auto-shuffling function of his Duel Ark. The dark-skinned pokemon appeared at his master's side. It had red rings all over its body, as opposed to the golden rings normally seen on its kind. Hanging around Umbreon's neck was a black studded collar with a large red gem at the center. That was probably an Item that helped it battle somehow. The creature was cold and quiet, unlike its trainer. [Umbreon's HP: 4200 - Level 90, ATK 2400, DEF 3700, SPD 24, four Technical Machines and one Item.]

Ash read the data grimly. _His Umbreon is a lot stronger than I remember it. And he's managed to find four TM's too. Last time I checked, those things were rare. I thought I was the only one who managed to collect that many._

"What's the matter, Ashey-boy?" Gary teased. "Don't tell me you're afraid. It's only one pokemon. It should be easy for a Pokemon Master like you to defeat just one pokemon."

_...If it was any other Pokemon, that'd be true._ Ash pushed a button on his Duel Ark and called out Pikachu in the same manner Gary had. Pikachu popped into existence and landed on his hind feet. His appearance was as it had always been, not marred by age or constant battle. Pikachu announced his arrival with a cheerful "Pi-ka!" [Pikachu's HP: 2500 - Level 94, ATK 1700, DEF 1600, SPD 26, four Technical Machines and one Item.]

Gary surveyed the data displayed on his ark as Ash had done. He frowned. He seemed honestly disappointed.

"The last time you and I battled, your Pikachu was twice as strong," Gary murmured. "And that was almost a year ago. Either your Pikachu has a serious case of pneumonia, or you're training a different Pikachu than before." Gary looked up, totally serious for the first time since this encounter began. "What are you hiding, Ash?"

"I'm not hiding anything," Ash teased. He didn't elaborate any further.

Gary didn't like the sound of that, but he didn't really know what to make of it. Ketchum knew what the problem was, but he wasn't going to reveal his secret just yet. The markings probably had something to do with it. Gary was certain that Pikachu was cursed by a pokemon or event in the past, and Ash simply refused to admit it. 

No matter. It just meant the battle would end that much quicker.

"Whatever. I'm going to win this battle. Having a weak opponent just makes it easier." Gary drew only four cards from his ark to form his starting hand, since his partner counted as the fifth card. Ash did the same. A storm rolling in from the south signalled the impending battle.

Both players glared at each other across the sandy street. Their pokemon waited patiently, not moving a muscle. The battle would start when their trainers commanded it. Ash and Gary slowly looked at a tree at the street's side, situated between them. There was one tiny leaf dangling on a branch, whipping about precariously. The growing wind from the coming storm would knock the leaf off eventually.

"On the count of Leaf, then," Gary said. Ash didn't reply. Both of them waited patiently, their bodies poised from battle just like their pokemon were.

The whipping wind finally knocked the leaf off the branch, but still neither of the players moved. The leaf flitted about in the wind, flying horizontally across the street as gravity pulled it towards the ground

The leaf touched the ground, and in an instant both trainers were shouting a simple command. "GO!!" Both of their pokemon leapt into motion and rammed each other full-speed. Pikachu and Umbreon bounced to the sides after the initial attack and prepared for the real exchange.

"Agility!!" Ash commanded. "Catch Umbreon off-guard and break its defenses!" Pikachu's special ability kicked in, and the furry creature zig-zagged across the field in an attempt to confuse Umbreon. [P's SPD: 26 -- 52]

"Wait for him, Umbreon!" Gary commanded. The dark pokemon watched his opponent carefully, noting its movements with a careful eye.

Pikachu zipped into existence right behind Umbreon and charged at him over a few feet of distance. Only then did the pokemon react. Pikachu used Slam to hit the ground with superhuman force, but all he hit was dirt. The ground flew in all directions and the ground shook from the misaimed attack. Just as Pikachu realized he missed, Umbreon appeared behind the pokemon and slammed him instead! The dirt kicked up again from the force, and lightning crackled above as if commemorating the powerful hit.

"That one should have broken his back!" Gary cheered. But when the dust cleared, Umbreon was lying limp on its side and buried beneath the dirt. It was almost like he'd hit himself!

"You tried to use a Feint Attack to catch Pikachu off guard," Ash explained. "But Pikachu was moving so fast that he jumped behind Umbreon before being hit. That's what we Pokemon Masters call a 'sweet move'."

Umbreon shook its head and got to its feet. It looked completely uninjured. Ash expected that. With a defensive strength above 3000, Pikachu wouldn't be able to hurt him just by ramming him. He couldn't use Slam or other moves like it while trying to avoid Umbreon with Agility. Pikachu was high level and powerful, but he had limits. The only way he could win was by using up Umbreon's energy, so that it couldn't Feint out of the way. That would take time. And any hit during the fight might be enough to take Pikachu down in his weakened condition.

"Where'd that little rat go," Gary muttered. Pikachu seemed to have disappeared after Umbreon's failed attack. But Ash knew where he was. Pikachu was running around the entire field as fast as he could. He was moving so quick that he couldn't be seen. But the moment he used one of his special attacks, Pikachu would drop down to normal speed as his energy was focused elsewhere. Ash had to hope that Pikachu could still outmaneuver Umbreon while they were moving at roughly the same speed.

"Time to wear down that defense of yours! Pikachu, Tail Whip!!" The rodent zipped to Umbreon's side and rushed at him. Pikachu's tail crackled with electricity and made it seem longer thanks to a trail of light. The light-trail smacked at Umbreon thanks to Pikachu's tail-wiggling. But this lightning whip wasn't fast enough to hit the dark pokemon. Umbreon danced left and right, avoiding each whip with expert skill.

That's when Ash slashed one of the cards in his hands. "Spinarak!! Hold Umbreon down with some of your web. String Shot!!" The spider-like pokemon burst out of nowhere to assist Pikachu. Spinarak spewed a string of web and caught Umbreon by surprise. Now pinned down, Pikachu was able to score a telling blow with his Tail Whip. Umbreon screeched in pain as electricity shocked his system and drained his energy. But it wouldn't last long. [U's DEF: 3700 -- 1850]

Spinarak leapt off the field, leaving Pikachu to continue the battle. Pikachu charged up for a blast of electricity in the form of a Thunder attack - the strongest attack he could muster. Umbreon struggled to free itself from the constricting web, but it was having difficulty. It wouldn't be able to break free in time unless Gary jumped in. Ash prepared for the worst.

"Umbreon, Protect!!" Gary ordered. Instantly, Umbreon closed its eyes and focused. A silver glow appeared around it just as Pikachu's attack went off. The Thunder blast erupted in the center of the arena and incinerated everything there - except for its intended target.

Ash growled. "He has a TM to protect his pokemon!" Protect was one of the hardest TM's to find. It could block any attack, even one as strong as Thunder! The smoke cleared, revealing Umbreon standing upright, free of the constraints of Spinarak's String Shot. And its defensive power was back at maximum [U's DEF: 3700].

"Nice try Ashey-boy, but it'll take more of a strategy than that to defeat Umbreon." Gary took one of the cards in his hand and slashed it. "But if you're going to be a coward and call in reinforcements to help your Pikachu, I'm going to have to stop you. In fact, I think I'll turn it against you." An enlarged version of the card appeared behind him, revealing it to be a card called Puppet Strings. A rare Magic card from the Duel Monsters game!

Ash's limbs were ensnared by a set of holographic strings, connected to tight leather straps encircling his wrists, fingers, and other joints. By the time the strings were all in place, Ash couldn't move his arms and legs at all. He dangled helplessly beneath the strings, which all connected to a large set of crossboards above him. There was no hand manipulating the device, but it moved as if there was.

"This little card lets me play your hand as if it were mine." Gary smiled as Ash's own ark displayed the cards in his hand as enlarged pictures, hovering above the Puppet Strings. "Which means I can pick the worst cards for you to play." 

Ash grimaced. Gary could do some serious damage to Pikachu if he played the wrong card at the wrong time.

** **Ash's Hand [3]:** Cyndaquil (Lvl 24), Osmose (Option), Noctowl (Lvl 65) **

"The only downside is that I can't play any cards in _my_ hand while I'm messing with yours." Gary slid his cards into the discard pile since they were now unusable. "But no matter. Umbreon has always been strong enough to do things on his own. Unlike your pampered pokemon."

"Pikachu, run!" Ash shouted. Against his will, he held the Osmose card and slashed it with sufficient force to activate it. Ash's muscles nearly burst from the strain of trying to stay still.

"Osmose, give Pikachu's energy to Umbreon!" Gary's pokemon cried out as it drew on what little energy Pikachu had and added it to its own. Pikachu collapsed to the ground from the intense pain of losing its energy.

** **Pikachu [10%]:** HP 250. **

** **Umbreon [155%]:** HP 6450 **

"Now that's what I call a card," Gary teased. "Not only did it cripple your pokemon, but it made mine super-strong. Remind me to thank those Digimon Tamer players for making such a card."

"Pikachu..." Ash said in lament. He looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"Finish him off," Gary commanded. Umbreon shot forward and chomped down on Pikachu's neck, using his Bite attack to suffocate the pokemon. Pikachu held on for dear life, but he was in no condition to fight back.

"Ready to give up, Ash? I may be rough on players, but I try to avoid killing Pokemon when I can."

Ash remembered Rika, and how her friends were fighting so hard to get back at Zero, the guy who took their friend away. He remembered Misty, and how she had to suffer because of Gary's bizarre ideas on sportsmanship. Ash remembered his father, and all that he'd said before he left his mother and him. Ash remembered all the pain he suffered throughout his young life. And he remembered how Pikachu had been there for him and Misty during all that time. Ash couldn't let Pikachu down - not now, not ever.

"Pikachu, if you can hear me, it's time to use our secret weapon."

Gary blinked. "Secret... weapon?"

Pikachu growled. "Pi..." There was no change in the animal's condition.

Ash knew what the problem was, even from Pikachu's limited vocabulary. "I know you're afraid of hurting it, but we have to risk it. I don't want you to die."

Pikachu seemed to consider the situation as Umbreon's jaws continued to crush the rodent's windpipe. It took him some time, but eventually, Pikachu conceded to Ash's will.

"HIDDEN POWER!!" Ash shouted. 

Pikachu started to glow as he called on what strength he had left. "ChuuuuuuUUUU!!!" The ground rumbled as Ash's duel ark reacted to the pokemon's power. The device screamed in alarm, but managed to remain intact. Gary couldn't believe the readouts he was getting. Pikachu was getting stronger - even stronger than he was originally! 

"What is this! No Pikachu can be this powerful. Not even yours!"

As Pikachu's power reached a crescendo, he flashed with white light that blinded everyone present. When the light faded, a ghostly figure was hovering above Pikachu and Umbreon. The figure formed into the shape of a cat and peered at the scene with big blue eyes. The creature was no bigger than a kitten.

"A baby... Mew?" Gary said in surprise. "But I've never seen one before. How can you have one?"

"I found it," Ash said evenly. "Pikachu and I found the rarest item on Earth - a baby Mew that hadn't even hatched yet. It needs energy to live and grow, and Pikachu decided to be that Mew's caretaker. He gave it the energy it needed to grow, at the cost of his own. And now, by giving up the Hidden Power TM I attached to him, Pikachu has woken Mew up."

"...At the cost of its life," Gary smirked. "While we've been talking, Umbreon has been Biting him to death. Or did you forget that?"

"Look again."

Gary did so, and saw Umbreon with empty jaws. Pikachu was gone! And Umbreon was so stunned by Mew's appearance that it didn't even seem to notice Pikachu's absence.

"Pikachu and Mew are one, for the moment," Ash said. "So this is still a Partner Battle. But now, my Partner has evolved in a way that no Pokemon Trainer has ever seen before. They have fused into one ultimate pokemon."

Gary fumed, but did not make it obvious. Silently, he looked up and glared at his rival. "...Ah. Then that gives me all the more reason to win. If you're the first person to hatch a Mew, then I will be the first person to kill one. And I'll do it with your cards if I have to."

Umbreon and Mew looked eye-to-eye, each of them crackling with their respective energies. Umbreon could sense it, even if his trainer could not - the Pikachu he'd been fighting was still there. This 'Mew' thing was just the surface. The pokemon that Ash Ketchum trained was deep inside, granting its power to the newborn creature. Although the kitten had a mind of its own, it was being guided and protected by the more experienced Pikachu. And between the two of them, their power and skill were astronomically high.

[**Mew:** Level 95, HP 4500, ATK 3600, DEF 3500, SPD 35.]

"Umbreon, Headbutt attack!" Gary ordered. His partner focused his energies at a point on its forehead and charged. As a result of the special attack's strength, he would be able to damage even the powerful Mew fusion he was facing. [U's ATK -- 4080]

"Dodge to the side!" Ash shouted. He was at a loss, since he couldn't move or use any cards to help his partner. Luckily, Mew (or rather, Pikachu) was able to dodge swiftly enough to avoid the earth-shattering attack. From the side, Mew used its basic Pound attack to smash the dark pokemon forcefully and send it careening to the ground. Mew slowly and methodically lowered its tiny fists and floated towards its foe. [U's HP: 4200 -- 2860]

Gary was stunned into silence. A monster that was _just_ hatched, right before his eyes, was trouncing his pokemon! "Umbreon, get up and fight for real! Take Down!" The dark pokemon charged again and tried to use the ultra-powerful move, but again Mew counterattacked with incredible ease. His Pound sent Umbreon sliding through the earth again, and the strain of using Take Down only compounded with the damage. Umbreon was in bad sorts. [U's HP: 2860 -- 620]

"Give it up Gary," Ash declared. Even while bound by the Puppet Strings, Ash had a commanding presence. "A normal pokemon, no matter what level, can't beat a pokemon like Mew."

"I'm not finished yet, Ketchum," the trainer snarled. "I'm going to have Umbreon heal itself with the ability of Moonlight, and while he's doing that I'll refill _your _hand and look at what cards of _yours_ I can use to defeat you."

As Gary had said, Umbreon used the power of Moonlight to draw on the residual darkness in the area made by the storm clouds above. The pokemon managed to heal itself a little bit [U's HP: 620 -- 1880], and Gary managed to refill Ash's hand by manipulating the Puppet Strings card. As he examined his hand, Gary smiled triumphantly.

****

** Ash's Hand [4]: Cyndaquil (Lvl 24), Noctowl (Lvl 65), Phanpy (Lvl 19), Alias (Option).

"You know Ash, I'm not entirely unfamiliar with Mew," Gary said confidently. "I know they're the rarest Pokemon on Earth, and that there's supposedly only one or two of them in the world. You apparently have the second one."

"What's your point," Ash growled. Mew steadily advanced on Umbreon, but didn't attack out of respect for pokemon battling. A monster did not attack unless its trainer ordered it to.

"There is only one other Pokemon that is that rare. And the last one of him that existed was used by... your father, I believe. Remember?"

Ash remembered the stories he heard from his childhood. "...Mewtwo. I remember it. But he destroyed that monster when he realized he couldn't control it. It was the only way to ensure the safety of the people he battled, and himself."

"No one has ever created a second Mewtwo, for that very reason," Gary said. "His data was far too powerful to control. But, there _is_ a way to summon a Mewtwo, even though his card has been out of print for over a decade."

Ash glowered. "That's impossible."

Gary chuckled again. "We'll see. I'll start by using your Alias card to create a copy of your Mew!" Ash slashed the card against his will, and a second Mew appeared beside Gary. Umbreon and Pikachu/Mew looked at it curiously.

"And next, I'll use the Item that I equipped to Umbreon, in the event that I needed more power." The collar around Umbreon's neck started to glow, making the dark pokemon cringe from the strain.

Ash's eyes widened as the copy-Mew started to fizzle rapidly, and Umbreon did the same. They were being sacrificed. "Gary, NO!!"

"The item is called Upgrade! And with it, I can use the power of these two pokemon to make one, superior monster!" Gary grinned widely as the dark energies of his partner fused with the light energies of the cloned Mew. The lights combined into a massive orb of energy, which slowly rose upwards and superheated the air around it enough to create steam and fire. The energy within the globe reached the breaking point before finally shattering the orb completely. A man-sized creature fell from the orb and landed on the ground like a ninja. The smoke obscured its form, until its eyes flashed red and made its presence known.

Ash trembled in fear. "My... God..."

Gary smiled at the sight of Ash quivering in fear. "Meet the most powerful Pokemon alive. And my new Partner." Mewtwo slowly stepped forward, and glared at the opposing player. Even at rest, its power was unfathomable. [Level 90, ATK 4000, DEF 3270, SPD 46]

"You... sacrificed Umbreon, just for this," Ash said sadly.

The other trainer was aghast. "I've traded my monster for a better one! That's all! Now get ready, because you're about to be beaten by your rival, Ash!"

Ash slowly looked up, tears at the edges of his eyes. "You're no Rival. You're... not even a trainer."

Gary clenched his teeth so tightly, it seemed like they were about to shatter. "YOU'LL EAT THOSE WORDS, ASH KETCHUM!! Mewtwo, PSYCHIC ATTACK!!" The super pokemon's power exploded as its called upon its deadliest technique and aimed it squarely at the trainer. [M2's ATK -- 7600]

Ash put all his doubts aside. He would beat Gary, even without his cards! "Pikachu, use Psychic too!!" The fledgling Mew dashed into the path of the attack and glowed bright blue as it launched its own assault. The energies of both attacks met in mid-air and destroyed each other on impact. Mewtwo shielded itself with its arms, while Mew flew through the air and landed behind Ash from the force of the double negation. The pokemon was motionless.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted. "Wake up, quick!" Ash struggled against his bindings, but the Puppet Strings were too strong for him to break by strength alone. He was at Gary's mercy.

Mewtwo stepped forward, its eyes glowing with evil intent. Behind him, Gary Oak's eyes had the same intensity.

"Forget the pokemon. Finish him off."

~ ~ ~ ~

[En'Dal]

Rika's head jerked up. For a second, she thought she felt Ash nearby. But, how could that be? He was somewhere fighting Kao for his badges. Rika turned around, watching poke-people walk by as they went about their business, in the usual style of NPC's in a roleplaying game. Rika looked left and right, but Ash was nowhere to be seen.

"Is Ash... in trouble?" she wondered aloud. Rika considered the thought, and for a moment she was afraid. "I felt him. Maybe he's calling out for help!"

Rika ran towards the town's edge, but when she got there she stopped. "What am I doing? I'm sure he's fine. Besides... it's not like I'm psychic or anything."

The redhead looked around again. A Nidoran couple were watching her warily, but they ran off when she noticed them. Rika sighed. "I'm just imagining things." She turned towards the way she came and steadily walked towards the inn.

Rika stopped again. She still had this nagging feeling, that Ash really was in trouble. She knew it sounded silly, but she felt like Ash was calling out to her. Maybe that was just her hope to be noticed by him talking, but she doubted she was imagining it.

_What if I'm wrong?_ she wondered. _If I go running after him when nothing's wrong, he'll think I'm weird. But if something really is wrong, he could really be in trouble._

Rika looked left, right, and left again, and growled. "Who cares what that jerk thinks! Just because I'm checking up on him doesn't mean I'm weird. He'll just have to deal with it!" The redhead raced to the edge of town again and set her Kyuubimon card with the push of a button. She mounted her digimon and raced towards Nalum Road, hoping that her intuition was just playing tricks on her.

~ ~ ~ ~

Ash didn't turn away as Mewtwo approached. The pokemon slowly raised its arm and gathered the energy it would need to unleash another Psychic attack. If he was hit at this close range, the attack would incinerate him for sure, even with the ark's Life Point Barrier protecting him.

"Good bye, Ash," Gary said with mock sorrow. "I'll take good care of Misty in your absence."

That did it. Ash growled angrily and struggled against his bonds, futily but forcefully. Gary laughed in amusement, and patted Mewtwo on the shoulder. The pokemon glared at the trainer behind him, his arm still poised for an attack.

"Finish him off," Gary repeated. "That's an order."

Mewtwo turned and focused his attention on Ash again. Blue energy appeared at his fingertips, and continued to build until it was sufficiently high to disintegrate a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon in one shot. Ash closed his eyes and awaited his fate. The Psychic attack went off and catapulted forward at the speed of thought.

But just as it would've impacted, Mew zipped into the line of fire. Ash's pokemon screamed as the full force of the attack surrounded it and burned with the intensity of the sun. Ash watched in terror as his Pikachu, in the guise of another pokemon, was burned alive.

[P's HP -- 400]

"Pi-ka-CHU!" Ash cried. "Oh God, no!!"

Against all odds, the baby Mew was alive, albeit barely. It's fur was singed from head to foot, giving it the look of a diseased rat from a New York sewer. Its bright blue eyes were bloody from the explosive mental energies that had consumed it with that attack. Mew managed to remain afloat, only by the sheer willpower that only Ash's Pikachu could manage. The pokemon was near death, and for Ash that was as bad as watching a sibling die.

"Pikachu... run away," Ash pleaded. "Forget about me. You're a hologram, but in this world you can live forever without worrying about running out of energy. You could be free. I'd rather die then let him kill you."

Mew ignored Ash's words. It slowly lifted its arms, and held them out at its sides. Mewtwo was surprised.

"A living shield," Gary mused. He laughed in amusement. "That's all he's got left, Ash. Your 'rare' item is useless as a Pokemon. I barely had to do anything to get Mewtwo. Heh heh."

Again, Mewtwo glared at the trainer. Gary didn't notice, or didn't care. Ash wasn't sure which.

"We've got this in the bag. Take them both out."

Mewtwo turned and faced Mew again. It lifted its arm and readied for a basic mental attack, which would destroy the creature and Ash with it. It focused its powers and aimed its powers at Mew. The blue globe appeared again. Although not as large as the Psychic attacks before it, it was still sufficient to scare Mew (Pikachu). However, the creature refused to move. It refused to leave its trainer behind.

Mewtwo did not attack.

"What are you waiting for?" Gary growled. "Attack! That's an order!"

Mewtwo's eyes were locked with his opponent's. The psychic pokemon could see past the outer illusion and could see Pikachu as clearly as day. Pikachu's eyes were big, black, and normally very cute. But right now, he looked as determined as a Gyrados - even more determined, if that was possible. Mewtwo had never seen such bravery - such intensity - in any pokemon, even himself. This Pikachu had a truly powerful spirit. It really loved its trainer.

"Hurry up and attack, you idiot!" Gary shouted.

Mewtwo lowered its arm and whipped around instantly. In a deep voice, he responded. "Silence, you damn fool."

Both trainers were aghast. "You... you talked!!"

But Ash was aghast most of all. _That voice...?_

"I am your Trainer! Attack him, now!!" Gary ordered. "Or else!"

Mewtwo's eyes flashed red. It was like staring into the eyes of the Devil himself. "Or else... what?"

Gary trembled. "Or else..."

Mewtwo slowly lifted his arm, and began to summon his powers. Blue particles started to collect like water.

Gary started to step backwards. "Or else..."

The pokemon's eyes flashed, and the red color in his eyes transfered into the globe forming at his fingertips. "Leave... my son... alone." The red light exploded from Mewtwo's hand and engulfed Gary in a moment's notice. There was no escape.

"NOOOOOOOooooo...!!" Gary cried for help, but to no avail. Ash looked away, scared at what he might see. But when the light cleared, Gary was still there, a little terrified but alive.

"...What?" Gary murmured, surprised. "Where am I?" He looked at his own hands, and seemed surprised by their appearance. "Who am I?" He looked up, and saw Mewtwo standing there, with Ash and a disgusting rat behind him. "Who are you people?"

"Have fun with your Amnesia," Mewtwo chided. He waved his hand, and Gary disappeared. Presumabely, he was teleported by Mewtwo's psychic powers. To where, only the pokemon knew. Gary's duel ark fell to the ground, its energy drained away.

Ash fell to the ground when Gary's ark lost its power. Ash was declared the winner, and as such the Crests that Kao had were transferred into Ash's ark. He now had four Crests!

Mew faded from sight and dissolved into two lights. One of the lights became Pikachu, looking good as new. The other disappeared into Pikachu again. "Pi-ka!"

"Pikachu!!" Ash cried joyfully. The two buddies hugged to their hearts' content, each congratulating each other in their own little way. Mewtwo waited patiently nearby for their reunion to finish.

"He will no longer bother you," Mewtwo said somberly. "His memories will return eventually, but he will no longer be competitive in anything he does."

Ash was fixated on Mewtwo. Although his appearance was striking enough, it was his voice that made Ash tremble. "...Dad? Is that you?"

Mewtwo frowned slightly. "I'm afraid, that I cannot explain just yet."

"Why not!?" Ash cried. "I'd heard that you died recently, but nobody would tell me why. Even Mom doesn't know what happened to you!"

"I cannot explain it to you. Not yet." Mewtwo turned and looked in the direction of the Crystal Castle. "This world... Zero... they are the cause of much suffering. This island is the result of many travesties enacted at his hands."

"Did Zero do this to you!?" Ash was on the verge of tears now. "Tell me!"

"When all of this is over... Go to Reedington, Japan," Mewtwo said calmly. "Only when you go there, will you be able to understand. Until then... you should forget this little meeting."

"No!" Ash cried. "I've wanted to see you again for so long, to show you how far my training has come. I heard that you died, and now that I know you're alive, you tell me to forget it!?"

"I'm sorry," the pokemon said. Mewtwo faded into a blue shape, then dissolved into the earth. "I love you, son..."

Ash dove to the ground. "Wait!!"

But when he got there, all he found was a card. It had Mewtwo's image on the front.

Pikachu walked to his trainer and looked at the card. He frowned sympathetically. "Chu..." Ash turned and held his pokemon tightly. Only then did he let his sorrow out.

~ ~ ~ ~

"A~sh!" Rika called from the Nalum Road. She walked along, repeating his name over and over again, hoping to hear an answer. Kyuubimon strolled beside her, oblivious to her tamer's actions just like any other hologram would be.

"Where is he," she worried. "Is he...?" Rika tried not to think about it. She was still having trouble believing that Takato was gone. Just thinking about it made her want to break down and cry again. If she lost another friend, she didn't know if she could take it. Rika wanted this nightmare to end.

Rika came to a fork in the road and saw a figure walking down a hill. Upon closer inspection, it was Ash, his clothes a bit torn from a particularly fierce battle. Pikachu was bouncing beside him, eager to see Rika down below. The pokemon waved excitedly.

"H~ey!" Rika yelled happily. She raced up the hill and closed the gap between them. "You're alright!"

Ash held up his arm that was equipped with the ark. "And I have four Crests now. I'm all set to enter the castle with you."

"Great!"

The trainer blinked a few times, and the nervousness set in. Both children looked at each other with half-glances. Ash managed to speak up first. "So uh... why did you come all the way out here?"

Rika looked at her feet. "I was... just worried a little trainer like you would get lost. So I came out here to walk you to En'Dal."

"Pi-kaaa..." Pikachu glanced wryly at Rika. The pokemon soon had a dreamy, love-sick look in his eyes.

"Shut up, you," Rika snapped. Pikachu sniggered and hid behind Ash's leg.

"Thanks," Ash said in reply. He slowly walked down the hill, rubbing his left eye a bit with a balled up fist.

"Ash?" The trainer looked up in response. "Is something wrong?"

The boy smiled slowly. "No. I'm fine. Let's get back to the others." Ash turned and continued down the hill, leaving Pikachu and Rika behind.

"Pi, ka," the pokemon said somberly. He looked up at Rika, who frowned back.

"... I hope he's really okay." Pikachu pi-ka'ed in agreement. They walked down the hill and caught up with Ash before they continued down Nalum Road the way they came.

~ ~ ~ ~

[Secret Dungeon Entrance]

Yami stood quietly at the entrance of the maze, his ancient eyes scanning the shadows for anything suspicious. The entrance to this secret dungeon had been difficult to find, but it would be worth the effort if it meant gaining entrance into the Crystal Castle.

_This place is creepy,_ Yugi whispered.

_This place is unholy,_ Yami added. _Although the landscape is digitally formed, just like the rest of the island, there is an aura of Evil here as well. Almost as if we've descended to a darker plane of existence within this digital world._

There was a moan in the distance, like someone being tortured but unable to scream because of a gag. Yugi's connection with Yami faltered, but the ancient spirit managed to hold the link.

_Yugi, calm yourself. It was only an illusion._

_H-how do you know?_ Yugi whimpered.

_I know. Now calm yourself. I will protect you._

Yugi was reassured by his other self's words. _I'll try._

Yami stepped bravely into the darkness. The only light came from a single torch at the entrance. Yami took the torch from its socket in the wall and held it aloft as he ventured deeper into the maze. The ground was covered in the skeletal remains of previous visitors (or so they were meant to believe). There were swords, shields, and rusted armor lying about as well. Sadly enough, this tunnel reminded Yami of home.

Mist started to rise from the ground ahead. Yami's ark beeped in alarm. _An enemy is approaching. Be ready, Yugi. I cannot fight if you break our connection. You must be brave._

_I'm... I'm ready!_ Yugi said firmly. Yami placed the torch in the wall as his opponent appeared. It was a Rare Ka named "Feral Shadow", a basic monster in the form of a living shadow with cat-like features and wispy wings on its back. [900/600/SPD 15, Flying]

Yugi tried not to focus on the howling feline, which seemed to be looking directly into his eyes. _Wh-what card are we going to use?_

_This one._ Yami drew from the top of his deck and set the card in the Active Slot. "Beast King, Gazelle!" Light flashed in front of the duelist, and the light assumed the shape of a lion-like monster of suitable size to defeat the beast, but not so large that it could not move through the narrow halls. [1500/1200/SPD 12]

"Defeat that monstrosity!" Yami commanded. Gazelle rushed the short distance between the two monsters and chomped with all its might. The Feral Shadow leapt back to avoid the attack, and charged over the beast's head with cat-like grace. The shadow charged straight at Yami, its fangs bared and drooling with blood.

_AHHH! GET AWAY!!_ Yugi shouted. 

_Yugi!_ The boy's mind flooded with fear, and it was more than Yami could contain. The spirit was knocked away from the puzzle, leaving Yugi in control of his own body. Yugi stared fearfully into the eyes of the cat as it flew straight at him, seemingly in slow motion.

The shadow yowled in pain as it was slashed to ribbons from behind. Gazelle growled at the remains of the shadow as they faded into the rocky floor. Yugi stood paralyzed from head to toe.

Yami managed to re-establish a connection with the boy. _Yugi! Are you alright!_

_...Yes,_ Yugi said tentatively. His breathing returned to normal, slowly but surely. Finally, he was calm enough to clear his mind and let Yami re-enter his body. Yami resumed control.

_You are normally not this afraid of our enemies,_ Yami noted._I know. But, I keep on thinking about that boy, Takato. He died because of monsters like this one. This island is dangerous._

_We have faced life-threatening situations before,_ Yami reminded his aibou. _This is no different. Just have faith, and remember that you and I are together. We can defeat any monster - or any player - we encounter, as long as we remain strong and focused._

Yugi considered his guardian's words. _You're right. I'll try to be strong._ Yami felt Yugi's sincerity, but he also felt the boy's doubt. Yugi was still afraid of what these monsters might do.

Yami called back his Gazelle and replaced the card in one of the slots of his ark. He drew four more cards and glanced at them to see what they were before placing them in the same slot as well. With his hand memorized, Yami retrieved his torch and continued into the recesses of the dungeon, with Yugi watching from within.

More sounds filled the tunnel, this time sounding like metal scraping on stone. Yami paused to look ahead, but the torch-light did not offer enough light to see. Yami stepped forward slowly, but still he saw nothing. And it sounded like the noise was very close.

_Yami..._ Yugi was starting to worry again.

The pharaoh remained calm. He looked straight ahead into the darkness, waiting for his enemy to show himself. Then, he understood, and not a moment too soon! Yami ducked just as an invisible assailant swung its bladed weapon at him. The attack took off the top of Yami's torch and sent it bouncing along the tunnel. Before Yami could get a good look at his assailant, the torch went out.

_He was face-down!_ Yami realized. _In other words, he was invisible until the moment he attacked. _Yami stood up and slowly backed away, keeping his fingertips on the walls to either side of him so he knew where he was. As the scraping noise approached, he backed away as he tried to think.

_Without a torch, we can't see anything!_ Yugi said. _How are we supposed to fight what we can't see?_

Yami rolled under another attack from his unseen enemy. As he rolled, he reached into his Duel Ark and pulled the third card from his hand. _With this!_ Yami slid the card into the active slot, and a flash of light appeared in the hallway as his monster was summoned. In that moment, Yami could see his assailant. It was an undead creature weilding a massive axe!

_An "Armored Zombie", _Yami realized. Yami's summoning was completed, in the form of Magnet Warrior Alpha [1400/1700/12]. The light of summoning disappeared, trapping Yami in darkness once again. The sounds of battle filled the tunnel, and there was an occasional spark of light as the zombie's axe struck the floating magnet's steel plating.

_The Magnet Warrior can't see, so it can't fight,_ Yugi said grimly. _Luckily, it's Defense is high enough to absorb the Zombie's attacks... for now._

_If the zombie continues to strike, the warrior's Defense will weaken. We must come up with a plan before then._ Yami drew a card from his deck, but he could not see what it was, even if he held it directly in front of his eyes. 

_Should we use it?_ Yugi asked.

_It's a risk. If we use the card improperly, it might hurt our Warrior, or ourselves._

_We have to have faith,_ Yugi reminded his guardian. _Remember?_

Yami smirked. _Right. _The duelist stood up and brought the unknown card to his ark. "Card Slash!!" Sparks of light filled the air as the card was pulled through the reader. The effects of the card happened almost instantly.

"The Swords of Revealing Light!" Yami cheered. The room was illuminated by the power of the swords, and the Armored Zombie was trapped behind the mystical wall of force that the Swords formed. The dented Alpha, now able to see, zoomed through the air and past the barrier to lay the smack-down on the Armored Zombie. The creature was annihilated in one hit.

_We did it!_ Yugi said happily. _Take that, evil spawn of the Internet!_

Yami chuckled. _Let's continue our journey and find the Crest in this dungeon._ Yami slashed one of the cards in his hand, called Enchant Weapon. It transfered the powers of one Magic or Trap card into the weapon of one monster. One of the glowing swords floated into Alpha's sword, giving it the power to glow among other things. The tunnel was now well-lit. Yami followed as Alpha led the way.

After many twists and turns through passages laden with weak monsters, Yami and Alpha found what appeared to be the center of the maze. The room was a massive chamber, roughly twenty meters on any side. The floor was decorated with lines and symbols drawn with ancient dyes, giving the room the appearance of an ancient battleground. Sitting in the room's center was a massive statue of what appeared to be a Giant Gengar.

_That's a Ghost Pokemon,_ Yugi noted. _But I've never heard of one that big before._

_This must be the guardian of the secret Crest. Which means that we have to defeat it in order to win that Crest._

Yugi remembered all the RPG games he'd played in his young life. _Rule Number One of the Secret Boss: He'll be stronger than any other bosses on the island by at least three-fold._

_Are you ready?_ Yami asked calmly. _In order to defeat this beast by ourselves, I may have to call on more power than normal._

Yugi nodded spiritually. _Let's do this. For our friends._

Yami's Millennium Puzzle glowed brightly, and the golden eye that symbolized his power appeared on his forehead. His voice was like the roar of a volcano. "GENGAR!! I CHALLENGE YOU TO BATTLE, FOR THE CREST THAT YOU PROTECT!! AWAKEN!!"

The massive statue trembled as the monster inside awakened. As the ground shook with its fury, Gengar floated from the massive statue as a ghostly presence, and the disappeared instantly. Only a vague outline of the monster remained. The giant Gengar laughed malisciously, and sank into the surrounding environment. [????/????/? - Ghost]

****

** Gengar Giant: 6400 HP || **Yami Yugi (Ark, Puzzle):** 6000 LP ******

Yami fanned out the cards that had been his hand up until now. Magnet Warrior Alpha flew into position so that it was between Yami and the majority of the battlefield. 

"Be ready for anything!" Yami shouted. At his feet, a circle of light flashed in and out of existence.

_That Gengar is so big that our attacks won't even work on it, _Yugi noted. _We need something of equal size to compete with its defensive powers._

_If we combine our Magnet Warriors into Valkyrion, we may be able to combat that monstrosity. But first, we must make it visible._ Yami watched the ground as the giant Gengar's vague outline swam through the stone like a shark.

_If we hit it with Alpha's Sword of Revealing Light, we'll be able to force it to reveal itself,_ Yugi realized. 

_Exactly!_ Yami pointed where Gengar was, and ordered Alpha to attack that point. Alpha charged and stabbed its sword into the stone, but Gengar ducked into the ground just before the attack connected. Alpha floated upwards, its eyes searching for its opponent.

Yami shook as Gengar's form tried to attack it from below. A circle of light flared around him, blocking any attack from the Gengar. The ghost pokemon swam into the stone again, searching for an opening, but it found none. The circle was the perfect barrier.

_Yami! Is this... what I think it is?_ Yugi had seen a barrier like this before. When Henry was fighting Zero, he had a circle that protected him from direct attacks. Was this the same power?

_In ancient times, it was common for those trained in monster summoning to develop a Circle to protect themselves,_ Yami said. _As Pharaoh, I possessed that power, among others._

But, how are you using it? Did you remember how to do it somehow?

Yami glared at Gengar as the beast's outline rose to its full height, dwarfing him and Alpha in its shadow. _It seems our brief encounter with Zero is awakening some of my old abilities._

Alpha flew ahead, slashed at Gengar, and hit it dead-on. The massive creature was undamaged by the paltry attack, but its invisibility and ghostly nature were negated by the magical enhancement in Alpha's blade. The massive Gengar was in full view, and its power to become invisible was disabled by Yami's magic card. Alpha had done its job.

"Return!" Yami commanded. As he was about to remove the card from its slot, Gengar's eyes flashed red and encompassed Alpha's form. Yami's hand was struck by an electric surge from the ark, forcing him to recoil. Yami tried again, but again his hand was shocked by the ark. Alpha's card was stuck in the Active Slot.

_A "Mean Look" attack!_ Yugi said for certain. _It prevents the opponent's current monster from switching out with another creature! Alpha is trapped on the field._

The Magnet Warrior swiftly flew out of the path of Gengar's meaty hands, which hit the stone floor with considerable force. Gengar lumbered after its prey like a giant monster out of an old Japanese film. Alpha slashed futily at Gengar when the opening presented itself, but to no avail. Gengar's defenses were simply too strong.

Yami remained determined. _I can hold my own for now. But I don't know how long these powers will last. I'm playing a game more dangerous than it seems. I just hope that Yugi can keep up with me. Without his support, I can't maintain control of the body._

Gengar smiled wickedly. Yami knew that this would truly be a test of Yugi's strength.


	10. Megidra! Crystal Castle Stage One!

****

** Gengar Giant: 6400 HP || **Yami Yugi (Ark, Puzzle): **6000 LP **

Magnet Warrior Alpha hovered in the center of the arena, its artificial eyes staring fearlessly at the massive pokemon. Alpha was not afraid of Gengar, despite the huge difference in power and size. This may have been because Alpha was not "alive" like some of the other monsters on the island. Its mind was simple and focused only on battling.

_With Alpha sealed in play by Gengar's Mean Look attack, I risk losing a lot of Life Points, _Yami noted. _We must prevent Gengar from attacking and build a defense of some kind until we can summon something powerful enough to destroy him._

_We don't have many cards that can stop something so massive, _Yugi replied. _And one attack from Gengar will be enough to shatter Alpha and obliterate most of our Life Points._ Yugi was already losing hope.

__

But we do have a card that might affect him. As a Ghost, his weakness may be life itself! Yami slashed the Monster Reborn card in his hand, and targetted the enemy with it. Monster Reborn could revive any dead monster to life. And against Undead monsters, that was a lethal move.

A shining silver ankh flew through the air towards Gengar, but the ghost smacked it aside as if it were nothing. The ankh shattered upon impact with the wall. The magic was ignored.

_He blocked it!_ Yugi gasped.

Yami growled. _I was afraid of that. His power is so great, that most Magic and Trap cards might not work on him!_

Gengar swayed and eagerly reached for the magnet warrior. Alpha dodged the attack quickly, using his small size to great advantage. Gengar's strength and defense were incredibly high, but its bulky size made it very slow as well. Alpha could avoid just about any physical attack Gengar made. That meant Gengar would have to use one of its special moves to destroy Alpha, which meant Yami and Yugi had some time before it could fully charge one of them.

_We have to set the field so that it works to our advantage, not his,_ Yami decided. _Pokemon are strongest when they can move around and fight realistically. "Duel Monsters" is designed for strategy and abstract combat, like in an RPG game._

Yugi sighed. _So what do we do?_

_We change the Field._ Yami took one of the cards in his hand and slashed it through his duel ark. "Duelist's Arena! Transform the field!" The moment the card was slashed, the field was surrounded by a stone arena filled with faceless spectators, and stone statues depicting various Duel Monsters. Gengar was suddenly unable to move, and it didn't know why. That made the monster even angrier.

****

Duelist's Arena

** Field Magic Card

** EFFECT: Summons a [Duelist's Arena] to the field, which can be destroyed. While this arena is in play, all players and their monsters must take Turns rather than battle in real-time. Monsters may be changed to "Defense Position" to prevent damage to their Players. Slashed cards are "Set" on the field.

Gengar was paralyzed, because it was not yet its turn. 

__

There are several "Arena" cards that allow players to shift the Crossover Battle rules into their favor. The Duelist's Arena supports duelists, and there are similar field cards for Trainers and Tamers.

_Awesome!_ Yugi cheered. _Now I feel right at home!_

_Now, we have a better chance of defeating Gengar. Because this battle is going by _our _rules now._

Yami slashed a second card, and the Duelist's Arena reacted by placing a face-down card on the field as a hologram. This was a staple of Duel Monsters, which allowed players to store cards on the field as well as in their hands. Cards on the field could be activated immediately, but they were also at greater risk of being destroyed.

"I switch Alpha, the Magnet Warrior into Defense mode, and end my turn," Yami said aloud. Alpha kneeled down to symbolize its change in position. By switching positions, Yami could prevent any damage carrying over to him, even if Alpha lost all of his Hit Points. It was a necessary sacrifice at this point.

Gengar's turn arrived. This was symbolized by an almost-invisible halo created with the Duelist's Arena. When the halo moved to the head of another player (or monster, in Gengar's case), it was that person's turn to act. The halo looked infintesimally small on Gengar's giant head, since it was sized for a human head.

Gengar tried to charge past the motionless Alpha to attack Yami directly, but a force barrier knocked Gengar back. It tried again and again to attack Yami, but the Arena's rules prevented such actions from taking place while Yami had a monster protecting him. Gengar realized that he could not hit Yami because of the card - at least not yet. So it smashed Yami's magnet warrior with a powerful fist to the head. Alpha was slammed into the ground and crushed into metallic powder. Yami's life points remained intact, thanks to the Arena's effect. The giant pokemon jumped back from the center of the arena, and its turn ended automatically.

_The Arena card saved us from losing over a thousand Life Points,_ Yugi said with relief.

_We still have to deal with Gengar, though. And quickly. The pokemon may figure out a way to destroy the Arena before we can mount an assault._ Yami reloaded his hand when his turn began.

"I summon Big Shield Guarder, in Defense mode!" Yami placed the card in the Active Slot, and the monster appeared as normal. "And I activate the magic card, Multiply, to create two more Guarders to protect my life points!" Multiply was flipped immediately after it was Set on the field. The Big Shield Guarder transformed into three monsters, each of them as strong as the original. [100/2600/12]

_Why didn't you create an infinite number of them, Yami?_

The spirit replied quickly. _Doing so would have meant that Multiply would stay on the field, like an Equipment card does. If Gengar somehow destroyed Multiply, I would have lost my monsters and left my Guarder at great risk. By limiting its effect, I don't have to worry about Multiply being dispelled._

Yami ended his turn, and the red halo rushed over to Gengar. When Gengar was able to move again, he immediately destroyed one of the Guarders without difficulty. He leapt back, and ended his turn quickly. Yugi and his guardian were stunned at the creature's swiftness. It was almost like its anger made it faster.

Yami drew once to replace the spent Multiply card, and got his Dark Magician. Unfortunately, he couldn't use him without putting him in danger. And he couldn't play him while his Guarder was on the field either, since his Active Slot could only hold one card. Yami passed without doing anything.

The red halo swooped to Gengar again, and its turn began. Unlike last time though, Gengar did not charge out to crush another Guarder. He paused, as if thinking about his move. This worried Yami.

_I don't know how complex the programming for this creature is. If it has time to think, it may figure out a way to defeat my combo._

_It can't be too smart,_ Yugi figured. _It isn't talking like any of the pokemon in En'Dal were._

Gengar's eyes glowed. Yami flinched. _A special ability!_

The giant ghost looked directly at one of the Big Shield Guarders, and the Guarder looked back against its will. There was a brief exchange of energy between the two monsters, and suddenly the Guarder was acting strangely. Three golden stars swirled around the monster's head, as if it were a cartoon character that had been hit by a rock or a bowling ball.

_Confusion!_ Yugi cried. _Our Guarder is attacking Gengar!_ That meant that Yami's monster was no longer in Defense position. If it was destroyed, the resulting backlash would affect Yami's life points!

Gengar counterattacked. Yami's monster was destroyed with ease by Gengar's dark energies. Guarder was consumed by a horde of shadows, and Yami yelled as intense pain rushed through his body. Yugi could barely hang on after such a shock to his system.

** **Yami -- **4600 LP **

The circle at Yami's feet fizzled and weakened. Yami managed to hang on, and was glad to see that Yugi did the same. _Curse that Gengar!_

_Curse this migraine,_ Yugi corrected. If Yugi were in control, he would have massaged the side of his head with his fingers.

_He may use that attack again. We must play a monster that can resist Gengar's confusion attacks._

Gengar's turn ended. Yami removed the final Guarder from the field himself. 

"I switch Big Shield Guarder for the Dark Magician, my Partner Card, in Defense position!" Dark Magician appeared on the field, but he kneeled immediately after appearing. Yami wasn't ready to attack just yet.

Yami looked at the card still Set on his field. _Now, I can use this. Hopefully, Gengar won't see it coming._ With that, Yami ended his turn, and the halo switched sides again.

Gengar grinned eerily. And as it did, it launched a sphere of dark energy towards the Dark Magician by balling up its fist and "punching" the air. Yami smirked, thinking he had outsmarted the overconfident creature.

"Activate trap card! Magic Cylinders!!" Yami's voice activated the trap card, which started to flip face-up. 

The moment the card's face was visible, Gengar opened its balled-up hand. As the dark energy attack swirled through the air, a cylinder appeared on each side of the Dark Magician. One of the cylinders twisted and screeched loudly as some invisible force changed the cylinder's shape. The cylinder that would catch Gengar's attack was normal, but the second cylinder was curved to point straight at the ground - towards the arena!

_He's used his powers on our Trap Card!_ Yugi gasped. _Now his attack will hit the ground, with more power than the original attack!_

It was too late to stop the trap's activation. The Dark Magician caught Gengar's attack with one tube, and redirected it magically through the other tube. But to the magician's surprise, the attack went straight down since the tube was curved by Gengar's powers. Gengar's own attack was nearly doubled in strength and crashed into the ground like a comet! The force of the attack shattered the arena, sending stone and shrapnel flying in all directions. Yami flew back from the resulting force, and the Dark Magician did the same.

When the attack was over, the Duelist's Arena was gone. Yami was on his back, and his Dark Magician was on top of him.

"..." The monster was speechless, as normal. It did look confused, though.

Yami's eyes widened as he heard the sound of Gengar's next blast. "Look out!" Dark Magician leapt straight up, while Yami rolled over and made a mad dash for the side of the room. Yami flew through the air a short distance again, but he recovered quickly. He stood up, and quickly focused his energies to form a protective circle around him. Gengar looked down at the human with glee, knowing now that he had the upper hand again.

****

** Gengar Giant: 6400 HP || **Yami:** 4600 LP ******

_Gengar has enough power to breach our Summoning Circle,_ Yami noted as he caught his breath. _We must act quickly, before he weakens the circle further._

_How do we fight something that big, when it can use its abilities as quickly as our Dark Magician can?_

Yami had a brainstorm. Yugi listened to the spirit's thoughts, but they were all jumbled together and moving through his head at blistering speed. When Yami thought about things, it was like listening to a super-computer at work. Yami was intelligent and skilled, and his amazing spiritual power made his mind work at a level that most humans could only dream of. For Yami, every problem was like a picture, frozen in time. He could solve the problem in seconds, when a normal person would take much longer to figure it out.

_We turn the powers of darkness against him,_ Yami said. He slashed a card, and the Dark Magician hovered towards the ground as three beams of light swirled from his master's duel ark. The Dark Magician's power was increased by the power of another card.

"Dauthi Horror! Grant your shadow powers to the Dark Magician!" A minute, bug-like creature hovered over the Dark Magician as a spirit before disappearing just as quickly. The Dark Magician faded until he was translucent and charged at Gengar. Gengar tried to grab the irritating monster, but the pokemon's arms went through him as if he weren't there. The magician disappeared into Gengar's body.

"Dark Magic Attack!" Yami roared. Gengar howled as a wave of magic flew from his body. The dark energy seemed to disintegrate more than half the monster's body, turning the Gengar into a pile of sludge.

****

** Gengar Giant -- 1400 HP **

Yami did a guttural laugh. "Ghosts are weak against Dark attacks! And since the Dark Magician is currently ethereal, it can ignore your defenses and destroy Gengar from the inside!"

The Dark Magician flew out of what was left of Gengar's body, and the Dauthi Horror's effects wore off. The magician was solid again.

_All right!!_ Yugi cheered. _We showed that spook who's boss!_

_It's not over yet, Yugi._ Gengar's gelatinous body started to melt together, and slowly reformed. The moment its eyes were regenerated, Gengar attacked the Dark Magician with one of its special abilities. Before Yami could react, his Partner was closing his eyes and sinking to the ground.

The Dark Magician was asleep!  
_Damn!_ Yami swore. _A sleeping monster can't fight or be switched until it's woken up!_

Gengar's counterattack didn't end there. With another flash of its eyes, Gengar summoned what appeared to be a tiny ball of darkness, almost like a Ghastly without the gassy aura. The creature zoomed into the Dark Magician's body and disappeared. The alarm on Yami's duel ark went off; the Dark Magician was losing health at a rapid rate!

[DM's HP: 3450...3300...3150....]

_A Nightmare attack!_ Yugi said. _Dark Magician will keep losing hit points while it sleeps, and the damage it will deal to us will continue to build up!_

"A powerful combo," Yami granted. He reloaded his hand and quickly chose a card. "But I refuse to lose! I will defeat you, just like I intend to defeat Zero, permanently!!"

** Card Slash Sequence **

"MODIFY! Crypt Angel, activate!!" 

A beautiful woman, with feathered black wings, descended from the sky. Her feet touched the ground, and she lightly stepped to the Dark Magician's side. And like a cultured lady, the Crypt Angel began a slow walk across the field, her head bowed low as if in a funeral procession.

"In thirty seconds, Gengar, you will be revived!" Yami shouted. "Your ghostly nature will be destroyed, along with all your dark powers! And with your health as low as it is, you won't be able to resist the Angel's touch!"

Gengar shrieked ferally. It focused its attention on the pseudo-monster, hoping to obliterate the Crypt Angel before her "quick" attack was unleashed.

[DM's HP: 2700...2550...2400....]

_We have to hurry, Yami! If Dark Magician is destroyed by the Nightmare combo, we'll lose our remaining Life Points!_

Gengar threw a ball of darkness at Crypt Angel, and Yami quickly slashed a card to counter the assault. 

"Mirror Force!" Gengar's own attack was reflected back at the giant, but Gengar smacked the blast aside like it was nothing. The attack exploded against the side of the arena, shaking the dungeon to its core.

The Crypt Angel was almost halfway across the arena. Gengar backed up, but it was running out of room. Yami had to continue his offensive somehow, but he didn't have any more monsters in his hand that could affect Gengar. Crypt Angel was in the process of attacking, and the Dark Magician was still asleep. If Yami wanted to attack, he'd have to do it himself.

"MODIFY! Tremendous Fire, activate!!" Yami slashed the magic card, which summoned a meteor above the duelist's head. Yami threw his hand forward, and the meteor launched across the field before smacking Gengar with incredible force. The roar of the meteor was like something out of a disaster movie. Gengar was struck, but the force wasn't enough to damage the mighty beast. The meteor was shattered by Gengar's counterattack. 

Crypt Angel ignored the attack, as she continued her silent procession. She was almost there.

[DM's HP: 1650...1500...1350....]

_Faster, faster!_ Yugi growled. _Crypt Angel's not going to make it!_

_She'll make it!_ Yami said, almost hopefully. _She has to!_

Gengar roared as his back pressed against the farthest wall. Unable to go intangible, he was unable to get past the tiny creature. He did not want to risk running past her, but his instincts warned him against it. Like a bomb, Crypt Angel might go off if he made a wrong move. Gengar tried to scare the angel with loud shrieks and cries, but Crypt Angel ignored him.

Finally, in an act of desperation, Gengar made a break for it. He ran towards the Angel's flank.

[DM's HP: 600...400...200...]

"NOW!!" Yami shouted. He slashed his Spellbinding Circle, which paralyzed the massive Gengar instantly. Gengar was trapped! Crypt Angel reached out her hand and gently touched the ghost. Gengar's body glowed like the sun, and the entire field was encompassed by it.

[DM's HP: 1]

Yami opened his eyes. Where Gengar stood moments before, a giant, pink bubbly creature with a grin as big as a dumptruck was floating on feathery wings. Yami didn't know if it was a Pokemon or not, but it seemed to be non-hostile.

_...We did it,_ Yugi said with relief.

_Indeed._ The Millennium Puzzle quieted down. The golden sennin eye faded away. Yami took a deep breath, focused his thoughts, and breathed out. The dark energies in his system returned to a more controlled level.

_What is that thing?_ Yugi wondered, still staring at what used to be Gengar.

_Let's find out._ Yami scanned the mystery monster with his ark.

****

Ragniel

** Angel Pokemon, LEVEL 50

** New Pokemon's data has been saved.

"An Angel Pokemon," Yami said, surprised. "I wonder..."

Yugi finished the thought. _...If we've created a new kind of Pokemon?_

Yami looked solemnly at Ragniel, who faded into the form of a card and flew into the duelist's hand. Beneath the card was a crest, identified as the 'Hidden Crest'.

Yami frowned at the card. "This is the meaning of Ultimate Compatibility. Zero's goal."

_His goal?_

The spirit of the puzzle frowned at Ragniel. "Zero intends to create a new monster, in the final battle. That monster will be Exodia... and Jeri Katou will be the key."

_But Jeri is with us. And Joey will keep her safe._

Yami frowned. "I hope so."

~ ~ ~ ~

"You want to go where?" Mokuba flubbed. "Why the heck do you want to go to the Crystal Castle? We have to get as far away from Zero and Kaiba as we can. We have to find a way off this island, and our best bet is to head to one of the docks and search for a ship."

Sakura looked sheepishly at the floor. "I know, Capu-kun. But... there's somebody there I have to meet. I heard from a player that the children who were on the news a while ago are going there. The Digimon Tamers."

Mokuba considered that. "Digimon Tamers? I remember them. Fought that thing that nearly wiped out Kaiba Corp's mainframe. But why do you wanna see them?"

"I... I think they might be able to help us." Sakura sat on the edge of the bed, wearing one of the many pink dresses that accentuated her cuteness. "I guess it's just a dumb idea."

"No-no, it isn't," Mokuba said quickly. He sat next to Sakura and cradled her shoulders. "If anyone can help us get out of this mess, it's someone like them. We should give them a call and find out where they stand on all of this."

Sakura smiled lightly, a soft blush filling her cheeks. "Really?"

"Really." Mokuba smiled, got up, and began packing his things. "If we hurry, we can reach them before noon."

Sakura's smile changed into a dull, lifeless frown. Her eyes flickered slightly. "That's good, Mokuba. Very good..."

Sakura's download of Takato's Ka was complete. The death of the boy meant his soul became one of the many tenants in Veja Cathedral. His Ka was up for grabs, and Sakura was now its controller. Guilmon, potentially the most powerful Digimon on the island, was now under her control.

It would only be fitting for the Tamers to die at the hands of one of their friends. And by their death, their Ka's would become hers. Then, with the power of four Ka's at Sakura's command, the dark powers inside Jeri's (and Juri's) soul could be drawn.

~ ~ ~ ~

Henry hung up the cell phone. "That was Yugi. He's got the Hidden Crest."

"Then that means it's time to head to the castle," Rika said firmly. She stood up and made sure her deck holster was in place. "You boys ready?"

Terriermon yawned. "Not really..."

Rika sweatdropped. "You haven't changed a bit. You'd think a few months in the Digital World would change a 'mon."

"But I told you, I wasn't _in_ the Digital World. At least, I don't think I was," Terriermon quibbled. "I was in some weird place, and I couldn't see, hear, or feel anything except static."

"Feel static?" Rika mused. "Is that possible?"

"For a Digimon, yeah." Terriermon smiled.

Henry had been wondering about that. "Right. You say the first you remember after leaving us is waking up inside a dark room. Then, you were put to sleep or something, and you remember nightmares of some kind."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Then you woke up on the battlefield with me, when we were fighting Zero," Henry finished. He frowned thoughtfully. "It's almost like you were trapped somewhere."

"I'm happy you two are reunited and all, but we don't have time for this," Rika snapped. "Let's go get Ash."

Terriermon growled. "Moumantai! You'd think after being separated, you'd be happy to see me again!"

"I could go for years without seeing you," Rika said with impish malevolence. She walked out the door and headed for Ash's room down the hall.

"She really is happy to see you," Henry said. "I think she'd just be happier if you were Renamon."

Terriermon shrugged. "Not my fault. But I'm willing to bet that Guilmon and Renamon are in the same place I was."

Henry drew Terriermon's card from his deck. "Perhaps the cards are the key to freeing them, then."

"I don't know," Terriermon said as he hopped off the bed. "All I know is that I want to help my friends get out. That place was... scary."

"We will help them," Henry said. "I promise."

Terriermon nodded, and disappeared into Henry's card. Henry slid the card into his deck and followed Rika out of the room.

~ ~ ~ ~

[Crystal Castle || Hilltop]

It was a massive castle, designed to look like one of the fairy tale buildings seen in picture books. Unlike the fairy tales though, there were countless explosions and monstrosities flying through the sky, trying their best to destroy it. Players from all over the island were using their Duel Arks to attack the castle, hoping to breach its invisible defenses. None of them had succeeded, yet.

Yugi, Henry, Rika, and Ash surveyed the expanses. The warzone down below was not very inviting. Jeri and Joey stood by, watching the other four intently.

"This is it," Henry said somberly. "The final battle takes place here."

Ash frowned. "This is where I'm going to win the prize. And give it to Misty as an apology for letting her down."

"Don't beat yourself up for something you can't control," Joey said casually. "At least, that's what Serenity told me. It might mean more to you than it did to me." Ash bowed his head slightly.

Rika tried to ignore the conversation, because she knew it would distract her from the matter at hand. "This is where Zero is, then."

"Yes," Yugi said. "Zero..."

Jeri shivered slightly. The darkness in the area was palpable. "Why did you bring me here, guys? I can't fight..."

"You're safer with all of us together," Joey said. "Don't worry. You don't have to fight. Just stick with me and you'll be fine." Joey grinned cheesily, making Jeri giggle.

Yugi smiled. Joey was always good at boosting the spirits of his friends, even in the darkest moments.

"No use in waiting around. Let's go!" Ash raced down the hill, with Rika in quick pursuit. Henry followed Rika, and the others brought up the rear. It wasn't long before they were on the path that led to the castle's western gate.

"Nobody's fighting on this side," Joey noticed. "Why is that?"

"This side is hard to get to," Henry said. He pointed out the rolling hills and thick shrubbery bordering them. "The only way to get here is from En'Dal's main road. The easiest side to reach is the eastern wall."

"It'll make it easier on us, then," Rika said. Up ahead, Ash stopped walking, and the others followed suit. Ash reached up and waved his hand through the air. A shimmering bubble could be seen there, vibrating from Ash's touch.

"The castle's defenses," Yugi said. "This must be what the others are trying to destroy."

Ash took a tentative step forward. He passed through the barrier without difficulty. Rika and Yugi did the same. Immediately after Henry went through, Joey crashed into the barrier nose-first. Joey yiped in pain and held his aching nose while muttering obscenities. Jeri gasped at the words.

Henry smiled lightly in amusement. "I guess you need Crests to get by the barrier. Should of guessed."

"Thanks," Joey said as he held his nose.

"Joey and I can wait out here," Jeri suggested. "I know it's safer to be in a group, but we can't hold you back."

Rika frowned slightly. "I don't want to leave you alone, Jeri. Zero might be watching."

"Don't you worry," Joey said confidently. "I wouldn't have promised to protect Jeri if I didn't think I could do it. Jeri and I'll be just fine out here."

"You're sure?" Yugi asked. "Zero is a dangerous man, Joey. And the other players might be just as dangerous. If one of them sees you here, they may attack you two."

"I'm positive," Joey asserted. "Have a little faith in the Jo-meister."

Jeri was still worried, but she tried not to show it. She leapt upon Joey's midsection and hugged him. "Yes, Joey and I will be fine! We promise!" Joey was a little surprised at Jeri's enthusiasm, but agreed nonetheless.

Henry begrudgingly agreed. "...Alright. Just be careful. Don't talk to strangers, and look both ways before crossing the battlefield."

Jeri nodded. "We'll be careful."

Henry looked at the others, and the group continued towards the castle at a quick pace. Jeri and Joey watched them go off.

"...I wish Takato was here to see me now," Jeri said sadly. "This is strong, for me."

"You have a lot more strength than you give yourself credit for. You're just like Yugi - compassionate and kind, but when your friends are in danger, your real strength shines." Joey smiled at the girl and patted her head in a brotherly manner. "Your boyfriend was a lucky guy."

Jeri giggled slightly, and wiped a tear away.

[Crystal Castle || West Entrance]

"...Done," Yugi said. The puzzle lock opened immediately. The others stood there, aghast.

"How'd you solve that puzzle so quickly?" Ash asked. "I wasn't even sure if that puzzle was in Japanese or Swahili."

"It was a pattern puzzle," Yugi said as the door swung open. "The symbols looked like kanji, but they mean nothing. They just occur in patterns. The key was putting them in the right pattern so that it progressively counts down from sets of 3, to sets of zero."

Henry blinked. "I... think I get it."

"A game geek like you probably would get it," Rika said. "Let's just get going." She entered the dark corridor. Yugi sighed, and followed with the others.

"I thought you did a nice job," Henry said in consolation. Yugi smiled.

_*ping!*_

Yugi stopped. Henry did the same. Ash and Rika continued ahead, oblivious to Yugi's hesitation.

"What's the matter?" Henry asked. "Don't be scared."

"It's not that." Yugi looked down at the Millennium Puzzle. A warm glow appeared briefly, then disappeared. "I just sensed something. I think it's that girl that injured me a while back. That girl in the red dress."

Henry frowned. "Meaning what? She can't be in here unless she got four Crests, and that's impossible."

Yugi looked up ahead, and that weird feeling grew stronger. "...No. Somehow, she got here. And she's waiting for us up ahead." Yugi raced down the tunnel, with Henry in quick pursuit. Ash and Rika reached the tunnel's end just as Yugi and Henry did.

The room was a fairly large chamber decorated in the manner of an expensive mansion. There was a double stairway that curled around and met at the second floor. Beneath the stairway was a marble hall that led into another section of the castle. Standing at the base of the stairway was a statue of a Pharaoh, made of what looked like solid gold. And leaning against that statue was a young girl, with a boy cradled in her arms.

"Mokuba!" Yugi gasped. "And you...! What have you done to Mokuba!?"

The boy was unconscious in Sakura's arms. It looked almost like he was asleep, but his breathing was almost non-existent. In Sakura's hand was a card labeled SLEEP on the bottom. In her opposite hand was a large rod, taller than she was by at least thirty centimeters. It was topped by a black star, surrounded by the red material that made up the rest of her wand. Black feathery wings decorated the red circle.

Sakura tossed Mokuba to the ground with a thud. He didn't wake.

"He's alive. Merely unconscious. This 'Sleep' card will keep him that way, so that this unit can act unhindered. As far as he knows, Sakura fell unconscious at the castle's steps just before he did."

"How did you get in here!" Rika shouted. "There's no way you can have four Crests!"

"I am a servant of Master Zero," the duelBot said as she walked forward with an almost seductive swagger. "Although Mokuba thinks he has hidden Sakura from Master, Zero has known of this unit's presence all along. Master Zero's computer has updated this unit while maintaining a low profile so that Mokuba would not notice. This unit needed time to reprogram and retrofit itself before stealing your Ka's."

Ash had his hands in his pockets, blatantly showing his unconcern. "That's great. Now get out of the way. We have a battle with your 'master'."

"I do not think so," Sakura said. The duelBot extended its rod, and the star began to revolve at a blistering speed. Moments later, a flash of light emanated from the device, and everyone in the room felt a wave of pain rush through their bodies.

"AGGGH!!" Ash felt himself floating upwards, just as his body crashed to the floor. His spirit was the first to enter the rod.

"NOOO!!" Rika fell to the ground, but her soul clung to her body for as long as it could. It wasn't long before her strength gave out, and she was sucked into Sakura's rod as well.

"Can't... resist..." Henry's will was strong as well, but Sakura's newfound power was beyond resistance. Her rod absorbed Henry's soul, just as it had the others.

"Ya...mi...." Yugi couldn't hang on any longer, and his spirit was ripped from his body as well. He wound up in the rod just like all the others.

All four bodies were on the floor, now without energy. Their Ka's were now Sakura's... except for one.

_Come out, Pharaoh-Ka. Your Ka cannot be drained while it resides in the Millennium Item. Release yourself, and fight! When your energy is drained, your Ka will belong to Master Zero!_

The Millennium Puzzle glowed with power, and the other Yugi erupted from his sanctuary. Yami opened his eyes, and slowly stood.

"...We meet again, 'Sakura'," Yami said. "But it seems your power has increased dramatically since our last battle."

"This unit recalls that you were unable to complete our last battle." The duelBot twirled her rod and stabbed it into the marble floor with enough force to penetrate the ground. Sakura let go of the wand, and took two steps forward. "Which means that you are now incapable of defeating this unit."

"Believe what you want," Yami retorted. He took off his jacket and tossed it aside. He did the same to his dueling belt. "I will not allow you to defeat me. The powers of my Ka belong to Yugi, and no one else."

Yami lifted his arm, removed the Duel Ark from his arm, and tossed it aside. "And this time, I intend to fight you by your rules. No machines to summon 'holograms'. This time, it is a battle of magic."

The room began to darken as Yami's emotions summoned the Shadow Realm into being. The duelBot looked around, a little surprised but not afraid. It scanned its rapidly changing environment, and understood quickly what was going on.

"This is no different from a Bio Emergence field," Sakura noted. "It is a field where the laws of dimensional segregation no longer apply. Monsters can be summoned without the Mini-Cyber technology here."

Yami chuckled. "Your scientific explanation pales in comparison to the truth. The Shadow Realm is the key to infinite power. Even immortal Gods that do battle here can die, for the penalty of losing a game is great here."

"You wish to destroy this unit, then?" the duelBot sneered.

"No. Although your cold computer programming makes you neutral to what is going on around you, I sense a pure-hearted spirit within you. I will free that spirit by defeating you in this Shadow Game. But if you win, you may have my Ka as well as my Millennium Puzzle. Which would give Zero access to more than just Exodia. He would have the Egyptian Gods within his grasp."

"Egyptian... Gods?" the unit echoed. "No data."

"They are three monsters, each more powerful than Exodia," Yami said with an evil grin. "With the Millennium Puzzle, Zero could unleash their power on the world. Exodia's power is great, but it does not compare to that of the three Gods. If anyone but Zero has the power of the Gods, they can stop any plan he has relating to Exodia."

The duelBot analyzed this data. Her sensory systems could read Yami's heart pulse and other biological functions, so she knew he was telling what he believed was the truth. If these 'God monsters' were indeed that strong, then Master Zero would certainly want them under his control. She had to accept this offer.

"This unit agrees to your Shadow Game rules," Sakura said mechanically. "If this unit wins, your Ka will be absorbed, and your Millennium Puzzle's ownership will transfer to this unit."

"Agreed," Yami said. "But if you lose, your programming will be destroyed, and the innocent within you will be freed."

Sakura glared at the duelist, her eyes flashing as her data processors increased in speed. "Begin, Pharaoh Ka! Summon a monster!"

"This will not be a game of monsters," Yami said as he reached around his neck and pulled off the Millennium Puzzle. "This will be a game of the mind - a true test of your programmed intelligence and my human abilities."

"There is no way for a human to beat an artificial intelligence of my level," the duelBot stated. "Only the alternate strengths and abilities of monsters and the luck of the draw give you the chance to defeat this unit's strategies. You are foolish to play a game without those aspects."

"We will see." Yami tossed his Millennium Puzzle to the side. "Now, let me explain the rules. We will play a simple game of memory, using the illusionary powers of the Shadow Realm." Yami waved his hand, and two cards appeared in front of Sakura. They were the same card - a Calumon. The cards flipped over quickly to reveal their backs.

"During your turn, you will get a quick glimpse of all the cards, and they will flip back over. You are to find pairs of cards. If you make one error, you lose. If you succeed in matching all the pairs during your turn, your opponent must do the same with double the number of cards."

Sakura frowned. This was too easy. A machine could not forget images, even if they see them for a brief moment.

"The only other rule is that you cannot move in an attempt to see the cards once they are flipped. Other than that, players may do as they wish."

"You are foolish, Pharaoh-Ka. There is no way you can outperform me in this situation." Sakura flipped over the two Calumon cards, and they burst into light. Four cards appeared facing Yami, before they flipped over to show their backs to him. The pairs were of Calumon and Impmon. Yami easily found the pairs. Sakura was faced with eight cards.

"You are a machine, and thus have a limit," Yami said. "I am mortal, but my mind is on a level beyond mortals. My only limit is my emotions. And I will never lose when my friends are on the line."

"Your illogical assumption will be your downfall," Sakura said. She paired up the eight cards, and Yami was faced with sixteen cards. They flipped, and Yami began pairing them up. The Shadow Game continued.

~ ~ ~ ~

_...He's gone forever, isn't he,_ Jeri thought sadly.

**_Not quite. The Pharaoh has a plan to revive him. I can feel it._**

How can you feel that? Are you psychic?

**I have a connection to the Pharaoh. He and I, in a past life, were in love. Much like you are with Takato. The Pharaoh had the boundless confidence that you see in Takato.**

Jeri frowned inwardly. In the real world, she was sitting on the side of a hill, with Joey watching the area for intruders. She was deep in thought, communicating with this mysterious entity inside her. It frightened her, reminding her of D-Reaper and how he invaded her thoughts. But this presence had a friendly aura around her, and an equal amount of sadness. Jeri felt a kinship with her.

_You think the Pharaoh will revive Takato. How can that be possible? I want to believe, but..._

**I do not know,** the presence replied. **_But I believe in the Pharaoh. He tried everything in his power to protect me from Priest Seto and his servants. Although I was cast into a coffin alive, I do not fault my love. I believe in him._**

The presence shivered at the memory of her own death, and Jeri shivered as well.

_I don't really know who you are, or why you're talking to me. But I think I trust you. And I don't know why. Is that strange?_

**No. It is expected. We are kindred spirits, you and I. And by working together, you and I can ensure that the world is safe from people like Zero.**

...How?

**By winning this tournament, and mastering the power that Zero wants to take from us. With my knowledge, and your strength, I think we can do it.**

Jeri hugged herself, and the warmth of her own feelings flowed into the spirit. _My name is Jeri Katou. What is your name?_

The spirit seemed to return the warmth. **_...Juri, of the Hebrews. Pharaoh's servant._**

_Let's save our friends, Juri._

Jeri felt a rush of power in her chest, as if her heart was giving off heat. **_We shall... together._**

~ ~ ~ ~

Yami remained focused, for to do otherwise would mean losing. The number of cards being matched was astounding. Sakura completed her pairing of 512 cards, and they all burst into particles of light. Double that amount appeared before Yami in squares about twenty cards high and wide. Yami received his three second glimpse of every card, and they flipped over. Yami began pairing cards up, with his eyes closed and his mind focused on his goal. He moved his fingers like a conductor running an orchestra, pointing at cards with each hand to match pairs.

"You are reaching the biological limit of your species," Sakura said happily. "You will fail during this turn. It is inevitable."

"Watch and learn the potential of humans," Yami replied calmly. His hands moved rhythmically and without fault. Twenty pairs were matched, and Yami showed no signs of slowing down.

"This unit believes distracting you is unfair, but it is pointless now, as you will lose this turn. This unit has sent a Monster after your friends during our game. Juri-Ka and her guardian will soon be found, and once this Ka touches Juri's host, I will be able to extract her Ka instantly from here."

Yami chuckled lightly. It was as he expected. "Then you have made my plan a success. Because I knew you would send a Ka after Juri. And that Ka is most assuredly Megidramon."

The duelBot's eyes went wide with surprise - something the robot had never done before unless she was impersonating Sakura. "That is not possible! This unit knows you are incapable of future prediction!"

"It's a matter of personality and probability," Yami said, his arms orchestrating still. He opened his eyes, which locked with Sakura's and revealed his confidence. "I know what you are, and I can figure out every move you'll make based on that. You are a machine, and you have limits. That is how I knew you would send Takato's Ka after his friends."

For the first time since this encounter, the duelBot showed signs of fear and doubt. "Not... possible..."

"This game will be mine, and Takato will be freed. Joey will use the cards I gave him, and that will bring Takato back to life!"

Sakura was aghast. The Pharaoh Ka was greater in strength than she imagined! He planned her every move!

"And now..." Yami finished his orchestration, and paired up the 1024 cards hovering before him. They burst into light. Yami stared coldly at the duelBot. "...It's your turn."

~ ~ ~ ~

_Something approaches,_ the spirit Juri said. Jeri opened her eyes and looked around. Joey was running down the hill towards the West Gate.

"Jeri, stay close to me!" he shouted. Joey activated his Duel Ark and drew five cards in a flash. As he assumed his battle stance, a massive beast crashed through the trees. Megidramon lifted his head and roared like a lion, its demonic eyes aimed squarely at the two humans.

"Megidramon!!" Jeri cried. "That's Takato's, I mean Guilmon's, I mean-"

"He's the main course on Joey's dessert table!" the duelist shouted. "I've been expecting ya, chump!"Jeri gasped. "What!?"

"First up, Red Eyes Black Dragon, become Active!!" Joey slid the card into the appropriate slot, and Red Eyes interceded itself between Megidramon and the humans. Megidramon attacked without delay, but Red Eyes batted him back with all the force he could muster. The two dragons began a melee that only two predators in the wild could match.

"And I'm slashing the magic card, Metamorphosis!! Change Megidramon to its alternate Mega form!" Megidramon was caught by the card's effects, and drawn into a vortex as its shape was retrofitted.

Gallantmon appeared from the vortex, its eyes glowing red from the control exerted by Sakura.

There was a soft chuckle in Jeri's mind. _I see. The Pharaoh's plan is to use the cards as Zero meant them to be used - to change reality._

The controlled Gallantmon swung its mighty blade and impaled Red Eyes to the ground. The dragon let out a horrendous roar as the sword went through its body and dealt major damage along the way. Only through sheer force of will did the dragon remain in play. Joey could see the sparkle in the dragon's eyes. It was awake, like Terriermon and Jinzo!

"Hang on, buddy!!" Joey shouted. He slashed the third card in his hand. "Now, Fusion Cancel!! Break the Gallantmon form into its two parts!"

Jeri's eyes widened. "Guilmon... and Takato!" Could it really be true?

Gallantmon's form fizzled, but refused to come apart. Gallantmon began beating Red Eyes mercilessly with its fists, smashing the dragon's skull repeatedly with its gauntlet.

"FUSION CANCEL!!" Joey commanded. "BREAK GALLANTMON'S FORM!!"

Again, Gallantmon fizzled, and the monster roared. It refused to give in. Gallantmon gave one final roar, and Joey's duel ark burst with light where the slash slot was. Joey flew several meters into the dirt, the Fusion Cancel card landing beside him. Gallantmon continued its merciless beating on the Black Dragon, but the dragon fought back with all its strength despite being impaled to the ground.

"Joey!!" Jeri rushed over and patted the boy's cheek. "Wake up! Joey!!"

"Unggh..." The duelist stirred, but he was still foggy from the hit. His forehead was bleeding, as if it were cut by something. Jeri picked up the Fusion Cancel card, which had a blood stain at its edge. Joey faded back into semi-consciousness.

Jeri had an image of Takato in her mind. She wouldn't give up yet. Jeri removed the teen's Duel Ark and placed it on her own arm. She held up the Fusion Cancel card, and picked up the rest of Joey's cards. She looked at the hand carefully.

Red Eyes knocked Gallantmon back with enough force to knock him off his feet. The dragon pulled itself from the ground, the digimon's sword still in Red Eyes' side. The dragon whirled around and looked at Jeri, almost disdainfully.

"I... I don't know what to do," Jeri whispered.

_I will help you. Let me control your emotions, and your mind will be focused. Do what you think is right._

Jeri closed her eyes, and she felt a wave of righteous passion rush through her. When she looked up again, her eyes had a distinctly different look. Jeri was in control of her emotions now, and she knew what to do.

"Dragon! Let us work together to save our friends! Please!" Jeri looked straight at the dragon, eye to eye. Red Eyes seemed to consider her proposition, then turned with a low growl. It waited for its next command.

"We have to weaken Gallantmon until he can't resist the card!" Jeri said with certainty. "I'll support you with Joey's cards! Go, and take him down!"

Red Eyes charged into battle, teeth bared. He would do what it took to protect his human masters. Even die.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sakura's eyes darted left and right. She had completed half of the card pairing, but there were still over 500 cards left! She could not recall some of these cards. She could not match any more pairs! Her mind was scattered with indecision and doubt, after having realized just how powerful this Pharaoh-Ka really was. She was foolish to accept his Shadow Game.

"What's wrong?" Yami taunted. "Having trouble remembering?"

"My memory is absolute," the duelBot said squarely. "This unit is simply organizing its data."

"You're lying." Yami folded his arms confidently. "Your sensory data was stretched to its limit. You are having trouble distinguishing your readings. Just like me."

"That is impossible. You completed your pairings," Sakura snapped.

"But I didn't always know for sure whether I was right or wrong," Yami replied. "But I believed in myself and my friends. And I put my trust in fate, as well."

"That is not a certainty," the machine said. "You gamble with your life with such little data?"

"That is what Faith is all about," Yami said. "A concept you cannot understand. Now concede, or be defeated by your own weaknesses."

The duelBot paused as it considered the ramifications of each. It decided that it liked neither proposition. "...As long as the laws of probability allow this unit to win despite false sensory data, this unit must continue playing the game."

Yami smirked. "Now, you are learning how to play the game. Let's just see if your heart is in the game."

With that Sakura continued matching pairs. She matched several in rapid succession, then started to slow down as she ran out of absolute certainty. She strained her sensory data and her memory, and began using guesswork as well. To her surprise, she was guessing correctly. But how long would it be until probability went against her?

Sakura flipped two cards, and found that they weren't a match. She had lost!!

Yami smirked, and caused every card to disappear with a wave of his hand. "I have won. And I've proven my point."

The duelBot stood there, actually looking dejected by its lost. "This unit... is not perfect, as it was led to believe."

"Nothing is perfect," Yami said as he raised his hand. "Now, as per our deal... RELEASE!!" Yami's hand glowed with power, and the duelBot's synapses overloaded as the power of the Millennium Puzzle rushed through it. The machine fell to the ground, its eyes losing all light and its body losing all power. The duelBot was nothing more than a doll, now.

"You will awaken into a new life," Yami decreed. The shadow game ended, and the blackness around him dissipated. The bodies of the Tamers with him stirred as their souls were returned to their rightful bodies. Yami felt the presence of his Aibou.

_Yami! You did it!_ Yugi cheered. He was glad to see Yami again, and it showed.

Yami stared towards the entrance, and heard the distant sounds of battling. _Let us hope that Joey can succeed as well. For the fate of Takato, and Jeri's heart, hangs in the balance._

~ ~ ~ ~

Jeri slashed a monster card to protect Red Eyes from one of Gallantmon's attacks. The slashed monster, a Panther Warrior, was smashed to bits by Gallantmon's crushing fists, but it saved Red Eyes from being damaged. The dragon was bleeding heavily and rapidly losing strength. It wouldn't be long before the dragon passed out from exhaustion, or died out entirely.

"FUSION CANCEL!!" Jeri shouted as she slashed the card. Again, the card was rebounded. Gallantmon was still not weak enough.

_We must help Red Eyes, _Juri thought. _Or else risk his death._

_There aren't any monsters in my hand stronger than Joey's dragon,_ Jeri said. _I can't put anyone else in there._ Despite that line of thought, Jeri felt pity for the Red Eyes. It was fighting harder than any monster Jeri had ever seen, real or fake. The Red Eyes must've had the strongest heart ever.

_Look out!_ Jeri looked up just in time to see a flying piece of a tree heading towards her. Jeri ducked under the log, which crashed into the landscape behind her. Jeri reloaded her hand before standing back up.

_That's it!_ Jeri thought, looking at one of the cards. _This'll do it, if I remember what it does. Joey showed it to me only once._

_Let's hope you're correct,_ Juri replied. Jeri drew the card and slashed it.

"Raigeki!! Blast Gallantmon!!" A bolt of lightning shot from the sky and hit Gallantmon with enough force to destroy most normal creatures. But Gallantmon's nature made it resistant to even this powerful magick's effects. The damage it dealt was considerable, but it did not destroy the digimon.

"It worked!!" Jeri cried. As Gallantmon reeled from the blow, she slashed the key card to this strategy. "FUSION CANCEL!! Separate Takato and Guilmon, now!!"

The magic card infused with Gallantmon's form. The digimon cried out as its shape was dissolved into energy and split into two. One of the shapes fell to the ground as a vaguely reptilian monster with red and black scales. The other form fell to the ground as a naked human.

Jeri threw Joey's duel ark aside and ran over to where the human lay. It was a boy, judging by its figure. Without shame, Jeri rolled the body over and looked into the boy's face. It was indeed Takato.

"Ta...kato?" Jeri whispered hopefully. She felt his chest for a heartbeat, but found none. She checked again, but there was no beat. Jeri's heart sank, and she started to cry. They had failed after all.

"...Jeri?"

The girl looked up, her eyes widened with shock. Takato's eyes were open, looking lovingly at Jeri's face. 

Takato smiled lightly. "Why am I naked?"

Jeri couldn't answer. She simply wept into the boy's chest. She couldn't explain what happened, but she was happy. That's all that mattered.


	11. Unity! Zero's Attack!

  


Takato put on the Duel Arc, while at the same time covering his nudity with embarassment. Although Jeri was nice enough to turn her head while Takato stood and moved around, it was still embarassing to think that Takato was naked while Jeri was only a few feet away.

"So I'm supposed to think about clothes, and this thing will make clothes for me?" Takato asked again.

Jeri gulped down her excitement. Takato was really alive! She could hardly contain her joy. "Yes, I think so. Rika did it once, and the clothes she made haven't disappeared yet."

"Okay..." Takato had no idea what led to Rika's discovery, but frankly the boy was glad she did. There wasn't a department store for miles, and apparently all of Takato's clothes were in a morgue somewhere. Takato really didn't want to go look at his own dead body. If the body was still there.

Takato closed his eyes and imagined his preferred clothes. He imagined the goggles that his dad gave him when Takato first became obsessed with Digimon. He imagined his favorite blue shirt with the tiny hood dangling from the back of the neck. He imagined his gray shorts that fell all the way to his knees. Finally, he pictured his socks and shoes, complete with the scuffs incurred from months of running and playing.

A soft light enveloped Takato, covering his body like a blue silk blanket. The light flowed over him for a few moments before solidifying into the wardrobe Takato had pictured. Each piece of clothing appeared in turn, as if the process of creation was more methodical than it seemed. Takato's goggles were the last piece of clothing to manifest.

"Wow... that's so cool!" Takato adored his new clothes with pride and fondled his goggles to make sure they were real. "How'd I do that?"

Jeri turned around and smiled. "Magic. The same way Guilmon and you were saved." 

Guilmon sat nearby, quietly watching the scene. He was still a little confused about where he was, and how long he'd been gone. As far as the digimon knew, he'd only been separated from Takato for a few moments.

Takato looked at the Duel Arc. The device seemed to sparkle as if it were made of the purest metal ever. He didn't think that these gadgets were magical, but after what just happened he couldn't put the possibility aside.

Jeri walked to where Joey lay and checked the cut on his head. The bleeding had stopped, but not before painting almost half of Joey's face. Jeri looked around for something that she could clean the boy's face with, but there wasn't anything but grassy earth and trees.

"Who's that?" Takato asked, looking at the unconscious teenager.

"His name is Joey Wheeler. He's a Duelist and a friend." Jeri frowned as she stroked a few strands of hair from Joey's face. "He was injured while trying to save you."

"Was he hurt badly?" Takato walked over and sat beside Jeri.

"The cut was deep, but it was in his forehead. So I don't think it's serious. I just feel bad about it. Like it's my fault he was hurt."

Takato put a hand on Jeri's. "It's not. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I was the one who was-"

Takato didn't finish the sentence when he saw Jeri's face. She looked like she wanted to cry, but she was holding her tears back.

"What I mean to say is, it's not your fault."

Jeri stared at Joey intently. She remembered her partner, Leomon, who claimed that Jeri had a lion's heart. Then she remembered Joey smiling at her, and saying that she had more strength than she realized. Both messages reverberated in her mind.

"...It's Zero's fault. And he's the one who should pay for what happened to you."

Takato felt Jeri's hand trembling. Was it fear that made her shake like that? Or was it anger?

  


--

  


[Crystal Castle || Main Hall]

Sakura opened her eyes and met Mokuba's gaze. The black-haired boy had a concerned look that Sakura felt was for her. The robot felt more eyes on her. She looked to either side of her, and saw a teenager with multicolored hair looking at her as well. There were other children surveying the area and making plans for their next move. Sakura recognized everyone there from memory - though whether it was her own memory, or the memory of her robot body, was difficult to tell.

"Capu-kun... what's going on?" Sakura sat up slowly, with Mokuba's aid.

"You were being controlled by your Dueling AI program. Apparently, the programming was stronger than I had anticipated. I didn't think your combat program would be in communication with Zero's computer system."

Sakura looked away guiltily. "I'm sorry for whatever I've done. Please don't be mad at me."

"Nobody's mad at you," Yugi said from nearby. He was busy resetting his Duel Arc. "From what Mokuba has told us, you sound like a very nice person when you're not in a fight."

Sakura blushed. "Thank you. I've always preferred skating and cheerleading to fighting."

Ash folded up his Pokedex and slid it into his jeans pocket. "There's still static everywhere, so I can't make a map of the area. And it looks like our Arcs don't have a map of the area either."

"Or the map is protected," Henry suggested. "Our best bet is to pick a door and go through it. Splitting up is probably a bad idea. There's no telling what - or who - we'll find next."

"Can you walk?" Mokuba asked Sakura.

Sakura wiggled her knees a bit. "I could do backflips, if you wanted me to." Mokuba smiled and helped the girl to her feet.

Yugi surveyed the main hall once again. There was a double stairway that curled around and met at the second floor, where there were half-a-dozen unmarked doors. Beneath the stairway was a marble hall that led into another section of the castle. Standing at the base of the stairway was a statue of a Pharaoh, made of what looked like solid gold. The walls were decorated with artwork in styles ranging from Egyptian, to European, to purely CGI, and even fusions of all the above. Some of the pictures even moved, like they were TV screens rather than art.

"To continue, or not to continue? That is the question," Yugi murmured. "In any RPG game, you have to figure out how far you can go before you meet that boss that you can't beat."

"I'm not turning back," Ash said evenly.

"We've already beaten Zero once," Henry said. "He couldn't have gained much power in such a short time."

"You're forgetting something," Rika added. "This isn't like one of our bio-emerging Wild Digimon. All Zero has to do is find stronger cards, and he can double his power in minutes."

"He doesn't use cards, but he does rely on tablets to summon monsters," Sakura said from her memory. "I don't understand it completely, but he has a lot of tablets stored somewhere that he summons his powers from. And he has to use his own power to summon them. In the event of a tablet's destruction, the powers associated with that tablet are lost forever."

Yugi's Millennium Puzzle flashed slightly. "...Just like in Egypt. A summoner's power decides what he can summon."

"Which brings us back to square one," Henry finished. "He couldn't have gotten much stronger since our last battle. And if I remember correctly, he lost quite a few tablets while fighting Joey and me. With all of us fighting, there's no way he can win."

Mokuba frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not so sure. Although Sakura is beyond his power now, Zero may still have a contingency plan."

"And Jeri is still vulnerable," Yugi said. "Even with Takato and Joey guarding her."

At that, the other Tamers looked over in surprise.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rika griped. "I'm all for guardian angels and hopeful wishes, but Takato's dead. He can't protect her."

"Takato's alive," Yugi said. "I think. It's hard to explain."

"Try _real_ hard," Rika snapped. "Because all I need is an excuse to hurt you, right now. I don't care how much older you are than me, I don't like you and I don't trust you."

"Rika!" Henry said firmly. Rika ignored the boy.

Yugi replied after a moment of recollection. "Before we left En'Dal, I gave Joey a few cards that would allow him to save Takato, provided certain things happened. I expected Zero would send Takato's Ka after us, because if I wanted to hurt my enemy's morale, I'd do the same thing. If everything went according to plan, Joey should have revived Takato and his partner."

Rika eyed him skeptically. "What makes you think all that happened? You were incapacitated by Sakura like the rest of us. And since we've woken up, you haven't left the room."

Yugi gulped. "Like I said, I don't know for sure. But Sakura's other self led me to believe that was the case."

"Led _you_ to believe? You were unconscious!!" Rika grabbed Yugi's collar and lifted him as high as she could. "You're either an insensitive jerk with a poor sense of humor, or you're hiding something! Which is it!"

"Rika, stop it!" Henry shouted. "We don't have time for this!"

Ash, Mokuba, and Sakura watched quietly with varying levels of concern. The pokemon trainer seemed more concerned about what was up ahead, as well as the images on the walls. Something about them seemed... 'patterned'.

"We already know you're a killer, Yugi Muto!" Rika shouted. She remembered the article concerning Panik, and what Ryo had told her. "Are you a double agent too? Have you and that Kaiba guy been working with Zero all along?"

"Seto is not the bad guy!" Mokuba shouted indignantly. "He's my brother, and I know he wouldn't do anything bad unless there was a really good reason for it!"

"Yeah, sure," Rika snapped. "I've heard boys and their 'good reasons' often enough."

"Why do you hate Duelists so much!?" Mokuba yelled.

"Capu-kun, don't!" Sakura was afraid that this argument would turn into a fight.

Yugi wasn't sure what to do. And as Rika's anger continued to grow, so did his helplessness. How could he tell her the truth without revealing Yami's presense? If the others knew that Yugi had a dark spirit inside him that was similar to Zero, they would trust him even less. And he wanted their trust.

Henry ran up and broke the stranglehold Rika had on the short teenager. Henry held the girl's wrist tightly and forced her into an armlock that hurt the more the victim struggled. "Enough!!"

Rika struggled instinctively, but doing so only enhanced the pain in her arm. Finally, she stopped fighting and started to breathe deeply. Henry waited patiently until he felt the tension in the tamer's body fade to almost nothing. Only then did Henry let Rika go.

"I don't trust him," Rika said flatly.

"I know. After what I just heard, I'm not sure what's going on either. But right now, I'm more concerned about finding Zero and dealing with him before he has time to gather his strength and catch us by surprise." Henry looked around at everyone. "So let's drop this for now."

Mokuba frowned a bit, but nodded in agreement. Yugi gave a similar sign of agreement.

"Rika?" Henry said firmly. "You okay with that?"

"I guess so." Rika turned and walked over towards one of the stairways and sat on the steps. She looked very displeased.

"I think the pictures above these doors are sort of like signs," Ash said from the second floor. "Two pictures are for Digimon, one is for Pokemon, and the other three look like they're from the other games."

Sakura looked up and scanned each picture, one-by-one. "Those particular pictures are of Magna Angemon, Venom Myotismon, the Dark Legendary Pokemon called Lasombra, Blue Eyes White Dragon, Dark Magician, and... my Hope card." Sakura reached into her dress and pulled out a card with a heart on it, labeled HOPE.

"What do the pictures mean?" Henry wondered. "I'd venture a guess and say that the pictured monsters are inside each room."

"That's impossible," Sakura said quickly. "I am the only person on the island with Clow Cards."

"So, there are no other players of the Cardcaptor game on the island?"

"No," Mokuba said. "The game itself is very old, and very outdated. The cards are produced by Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions for the older generations who still know about the game. Sakura has a unique set of Clow Cards that were said to belong to the game's creator, a British game developer and mystic named Clow Reed."

"Which means what?" Yugi asked.

Mokuba considered what he was about to say. It seemed like it was difficult for him to say. "During our initial testing of the Duel Arc systems, we discovered that Sakura's cards were the only cards that reacted to the Mini Cyber manifestation system. It was like her cards were special somehow."

Henry was intrigued by this. "So no other Clow Cards would work?"

"No _copies_ of the original set would work," Mokuba replied. "Sakura's set is the original, as far as I know."

Yugi considered that. "If that's the case, then why do our cards work? These can't be the original copies."

Mokuba shook his head. "During the testing, we discovered that certain cards only worked with certain people using the Duel Arc. It's as if the card and the person had to be synchronized. Only people that were destined to use a particular card could make it work with the Duel Arc."

Yugi gasped slightly. He reached for the top of his deck and drew the Dark Magician. _Does that mean that... the cards choose who can use them?_

Up on the second floor, Ash waited for a response from the others.

"Does anyone have an idea as to what these doors mean?"

Sakura looked down the marble hallway beneath the stairs. "Zero's chambers are down that way. Those six rooms, according to my database, contain extreme challenges that can give you rare cards as rewards. 96% of the possible rewards are already possessed by members of our party."

"Then I guess we should be heading down that hallway," Henry said.

Ash and Rika joined the others, and the party made their way down the marble hall. The walls were lined with more artwork, each picture stranger than the last. Some of the images seemed to be monsters that were literally alive, swaying lightly through the picture and occasionally glancing at the group. It seemed like they would jump out of the picture at any moment.

"This gives me the creeps," Rika said as she eyed the pictures in turn. "There's enough artwork here to summon an army."

Sakura darted glances at each picture with wide eyes. She did her best to hide behind the shorter Mokuba. "You don't think they're gh-ghosts, do you?"

"Your database would be more likely to know than we would," Mokuba said with a light smile. Sakura sweatdropped.

"The pictures haven't done anything yet," Henry said. "They're probably just meant to scare us."

"They're doing a good job," Ash muttered. He kept his hands close to his pokebelt.

The six children stopped in front of a double door at the end of the hallway. The door was labeled with the eye of Ra, surrounded by symbols similar to the four Digimon Sovereigns, and further surrounded by the twelve symbols of the Devas. The absolute outside of the crest was a circle with four spikes at symmetrical points. It was like a glorified compass rose.

"Somehow I feel left out," Ash chortled. Rika smiled at his light-hearted comment.

"This room leads to Zero's base of operations," Sakura said. "The Eye of Ra... the center of the island. The computer my Dueling AI communicated with must be somewhere in here as well."

Henry ran a hand along the symbol, touching the glorified Eye situated in the center of the crest. "It's almost like a map." Henry touched the Sovereigns and Deva symbols in turn. "It reminds me of Azulongmon's description of the Digital World."

Yugi's Millennium Puzzle glowed, and Yami made a quick appearance. "The outer circle is reminiscent of the priests' depiction of the Shadow Realm. An all-encompassing barrier that contained the universe and all the souls born of it. And the Eye of Ra is a classic symbol of Egypt, the center of the universe."

"Egypt? Shadow Realm?" Henry echoed. "Care to explain?"

Yami remembered to keep his identity a secret. He had to pretend that he was still Yugi. It was a lot harder nowadays, as opposed to the very beginning, when Yugi and Yami were almost completely unaware of their true natures. "I learned about it from exhibits in Domino City's museum. The Shadow Realm is supposed to be a place in Egyptian religion where the souls of the dead are gathered, unless their heart is lighter than a feather. In which case they would continue with the Pharaoh into the new world."

Rika frowned. "You're really creepy, you know that Yugi? You act like you're an expert on death and evil."

Yami said nothing. He returned to the Millennium Puzzle and allowed Yugi to resume control.

"I don't care about legends and scary stories," Ash said as he touched the door handle. "I just want to defeat Zero and win this tournament according to the rules. Even if the tournament was a farce, I can't leave empty handed."

"Do what you like. Just make sure you remember what we're here for," Mokuba said. Ash nodded to the boy, and the trainer pushed the door open. The party entered the Eye of Ra, and the door slammed shut behind them.

The Eye of Ra was a sight to behold. The room's main feature was a massive computer terminal that dwarfed the players. The computer was overflowing with monitors, each projecting a different kind of graph, image, or database, but every monitor seemed to be unified in one task. Closer to the group was a glowing circle that illuminated a crest on the marble floor that looked the same as the crest on the door. The glow seemed to eminate from the ceiling a dozen meters above, where a long pathway of light extended into the heavens.

"This must be the computer," Sakura said with awe. She felt like she was in the presense of someone magnificent and divine - like Jesus or Buddha. "So much... power. I can feel the power of this computer's brain."

"You mean its processor," Rika said coldly.

"For Sakura, a processor and a brain are one in the same," Mokuba replied. The young Kaiba approached the computer terminal and examined the data flashing back and forth on the various monitors. "The computer seems to be analyzing battle data. Kaiba Corp used similar databases during Duelist Kingdom to keep track of who was dueling where, and what cards they were using."

Yugi frowned in remembrance. Kaiba must've used a computer system like this to hack into his game with Kaiba's ghost and helped Yami win. But what did this computer do? And why was it operating by itself?

Mokuba opened a command window and began typing commands in what appeared to be a very basic language. He hit the Enter key, but the computer responded with a buzzer noise and a message in red. "The computer is locked by a previous command. But I can't tell if the command was made by a user, or the computer itself."

"The computer itself?" Ash blinked. "You mean this thing can tell itself what to do?"

"It might. The design specs of this system are a lot like our Kaiba Corp database systems. They use semi-sentient AI's to monitor and organize data and act upon the data according to user-set rules. But I don't understand how a machine like this can be on Zero's island. Unless my brother gave him the design specifications for this too."

"Your brother gave me more than you can imagine," said a deep voice.

The party whipped around to see Zero basking in the light of the portal above. Everyone powered up their Duel Arcs and reached for the cards, like gunfighters waiting to draw their weapons. Zero did not react to their preparations.

"Welcome to my private chambers," Zero said. He looked straight at Yugi, who balked slightly. "I've been expecting you."

"Let the people on this island go," Henry ordered. "Trapping them here is illegal, and I'm sure that's not the only illegal thing you're doing."

"On the contrary, I haven't broken any laws," Zero replied confidently. "Every player on this island agreed to stay and play the game until a winner was decided. And that has not occured yet."

"Joey and I crushed you already. That should be enough of a victory."

Zero scowled at the memory of his defeat. "I assure you, that was an impressive feat. But defeating me is not the key to victory on this island. Read your rulebooks."

"We already have," Rika said. "But we doubt your sincerity in terms of the tournament. It's pretty obvious that all you want is our souls."

Zero smiled a bit. "It's not so simple. It's true that I want your Ka, and the Ka of the destructive entity you call Jeri. But I also needed a considerable amount of energy to accomplish my plans. And the only way to do that is by collecting the wasted energies generated by monsters in battle."

Yugi frowned. "So the whole point of this tournament was for us to fill up your batteries by fighting?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Zero slowly stepped forward, but made no move to attack. "Only with a suitable amount of data can I create Exodia. Much like the creation of your Digimon, I must gather the data necessary and infuse that data with the power of a Ka. But rather than use my own Ka like you Tamers did, I will use Jeri's Ka."

"That'll never happen!" Rika shouted. "We'll deal with you, once and for all!"

Zero chuckled. "So you're going to kill me? A law-abiding citizen, and a human to boot?"

"You're not human," Henry said with certainty. "You're data."

"That's all you know about me?" Zero taunted. "You haven't figured out the truth, yet? I'm disappointed. We can't begin the semifinals until you know the truth."

"Semifinals? Are you crazy?" Rika snapped. "You think we're going to listen to you anymore?"

"You will if you want to leave this island," Zero said. "Only be completing this tournament according to its rules can you free everyone trapped here in my corner of the Digital plane."

Yugi grimaced. _A Shadow Game! That's what's keeping us here! Only by completing the game can we leave this realm!_

"So killing you won't solve anything," Rika said with regret. "Great."

"Only when you know who and what I am will you understand what you must do to win," Zero said. He moved to the edge of the room, where a cushioned seat normally used in a study was placed, and sat down. "I will wait for your answer."

Henry sighed and powered down his arc. "Any bright ideas, guys?"

Ash folded his arms as he thought. "We know he's a bad guy. A good guy wouldn't trap people on an island against their will."

"We know he's after our spirits," Mokuba said. He looked at Sakura, who seemed worried by the whole situation. "Sakura was apparently redesigned by my brother Seto for the purpose of taking our 'Ka'."

Yugi felt a ping of thought at the mention of Seto. Something about Seto...

"We know he's offering a thirteen and a half trillion Yen prize to the winner of the tournament, along with the island and all assets associated with it," Rika chimed in. "So we know he's crazy, or a liar."

"And I'm leaning towards the latter," Henry said. "Nobody has thirteen trillion Yen to waste."

Sakura thought hard about the subject. "I wish I could help, but... I don't seem to have any data concerning Zero's origins. My Dueling AI seemed to only know what the Eye of Ra computer system revealed. Which isn't much."

"What did it reveal?" Mokuba asked. "Every little bit helps."

Sakura remembered what she knew. "Zero came to this island some time ago, and found the AI that fuels the Eye of Ra. This island is located in a flux point that connects to the Digital World, in a way sort of like the Bermuda Triangle. Anyone who comes in here will shift dimensions without realizing it."

"Which explains why we didn't notice the transfer into the Digital World until recently," Rika said. "But how did we get here? All paths to the Digital World were supposed to be blocked by a lethal barrier."

"The 'Red Shift' barrier you speak of has been modified by a power that Zero possesses. Entry into this world can be accomplished because of the power that Zero has."

Yugi looked up. "It's the power of the Shadow Games. All the laws of the universe are put aside, so that two warriors can play a game and decide each other's fate."

"So you think your mythical Shadow Games are what broke the barrier we set up?" Rika said. She was starting to think that Yugi was serious about all that he's said up until now. He might've even been serious about Takato. But that was... impossible. Wasn't it?

"If I'm right, then Zero began a Shadow Game long ago, based on this tournament. The winner of this tournament will be able to decide the fate of all who played in the game. And the winner would gain the power to grant their most desired wish through the use of all that data energy that Zero described."

Henry started to pace. "So Zero intends to win this tournament, claim the Ka of the losers, and use all his winnings to summon Exodia and remake the world in his image."

"Not quite," Yugi said. "Zero doesn't want to remake the world in his image. He might think that's what he wants, but it's not what he is truly after."

Zero, who had been listening to the conversation, looked at Yugi curiously. "And what makes you so sure that is the case, Yugi Mutou?"

Yugi started to step closer to where Zero sat. Midway through his step, he transformed into his darker persona. And Yami's eyes were squarely on Zero. "Because I now understand what you are. I now know how you think."

Zero chuckled in open amusement. "Oh, if you think you've solved the riddle, Yugi, then do tell. Tell us all who you think I really am."

Yami bowed his head slightly. "Long ago, when Yu... when I first solved the Millennium Puzzle, I was not the same as I am now. I was dangerous, and lethal. I sought to kill those who displeased me or dared to hurt my friends. I was truly a dark spirit."

_*Flash of Yami playing a game with Ushio, a bully. Ushio is stricken with insanity upon losing a shadow game with Yami.*_

"But something forced me to change," Yami continued. "My time with Yugi and his friends made me think about my actions, and forced me to reconsider my views on human life. Human life is precious, even if a human is selfish or cruel."

"How touching," Zero mocked him. "But what does this have to do with me?"

Yami scowled slightly. "As time went on, I was forced to bury those thoughts which I considered commonplace until then. I had to stop acting 'evil' and cruel. But the only way I could truly change was by shedding those thoughts forever, like a snake's skin. And in order to do that, I had to find someone whose thoughts were darker than my own."

Mokuba's eyes widened. "Oh my... God..."

_*Flash!_

_"Draw your last, pathetic card so that I can end this, Yugi."_

_"My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba."_

_*The draw of a card, and the power of the Millennium Puzzle.*_

_"But it does contain... the unstoppable Exodia!!"_

_Flash!_

_"NOW, OPEN YOUR MIND!!"_

_*Power explodes from Yami's hand. Kaiba gasps as he feels his soul shatter from the strain of Yugi's power.*_

_Flash!*_

Yami's eyes were closed as he remembered that duel with Seto Kaiba. It was a dark time for him. Darker than his Aibou was led to believe.

"I kept the truth from my... friend, for fear that he would hate me for it. The only way I could get rid of my evil ways, was by giving that darkness to someone else. That darkness entered Seto Kaiba, and festered inside him. I knew that in time, it might change into something stronger than just mindless energy. I knew that in time... something like you might come to exist."

Zero's eyes widen. "What!?"

"You are a fusion of Seto Kaiba and my darker tendencies!" Yami said with certainty. "You are the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's shadow, born in Ancient Egypt millennia ago! You are the darkest example of the Power of Unity!"

Zero shot to his feet, and Yami was slammed by an invisible force that sent him sliding across the marble floor. Henry and Mokuba ran over to him, and the others followed.

"THAT CANNOT BE TRUE!!" Zero roared. "I will not believe it!"

Yami sat up weakly. "That is why you wanted us to find out the truth. Because you didn't even know the truth. You cannot understand why you want Exodia so badly. Only now do you understand, that like Kaiba, you must prove yourself to be the strongest. And only with Exodia can you accomplish that."

Zero clenched his fists tightly. "It is a lie! I am not Seto Kaiba. He is my slave. He is a mere mortal. I am a god on earth, like the Pharaohs of the past!"

"You used Seto Kaiba to find this place," Yami growled as he got to his feet with the help of the others. "You used Seto's technological genius and my memories of Ancient Egypt to build the Duel Arcs and begin this Shadow Game. You needed the Duel Arcs to become a separate being. And now, you need Seto Kaiba's technology to bring Exodia to life through the Digital World!"

"ENOUGH!!" Zero roared. The room filled with wind as Zero called upon the dark powers that he possessed. "Even without Juri's Ka, I will kill you all!" A summoning circle flared to life at Zero's feet, and power exploded from the man's feet as a torrential flood of light.

"Get ready, guys!" Ash shouted as he powered up his arc. "This is it!"

Rika activated her arc as well. "Right! Let's take this guy down!"

"For our friends!" Henry shouted.

"For the ones we love," Sakura cheered. She twirled her magical rod and stabbed it into the ground, ready to begin the battle.

Yami's Millennium Puzzle glowed as brightly as the sun, and the golden sennin eye that symbolized his power appeared on his forehead. "IT'S TIME TO DUEL!!"

  


------------------------------------  
_**Monster Duel Ex - Final Battle**_  
_**Zero, Form 1: The Summoner.**_  
_**ENERGY: 8000 Life Points**_  
------------------------------------  


  


"Play time is over," Zero roared. "BLUE EYES, WHITE DRAGON, attack!!" A single tablet appeared behind Zero, and from it came a dragon so large that it could barely fit inside the room, even with more than ten meters separating the ground and the ceiling. [3000/2500, LVL 8, HP 4000]

"A Blue Eyes!" Mokuba shouted. "No way! My brother's the only Duelist to have the Blue Eyes in his deck!"

"But Zero's not playing with cards; he has the original tablet!" Yami said. "Which means it's even stronger than a normal Blue Eyes! And since he is made in part by Kaiba, he can command the White Dragon!"

Blue Eyes roared viciously at the players, and used its size to good advantage. The dragon flexed its mighty wings and knocked aside a good portion of the room, revealing a glowing sky that couldn't be real. The sky was now nothing more than a swirling whirlwind of light the size of a football field.

"Set your monsters!" Henry shouted. Everyone followed his lead.

  


**[MUSIC: **Hikari no Willpower, "The Will of the Light"**]**

  


_**Henry:** "Terriermon!" *Sets one of five cards into the Active Slot. Terriermon appears on the field and flashes a 'V for Victory'.*_ [HP: 2000]

_**Ash:** "Pikachu!" *Sets one of five cards into the Active Slot. Pikachu appears on the field and sparkles with electric power as he growls 'Chuuuuu...!'*_ [HP: 2500]

_**Rika:** "Renamon!" *Sets one of five cards into the Active Slot. Renamon teleports into existense and crosses her arms as she appears, ready for battle.*_ [HP: 2500]

_**Sakura:** "Hope!" *A giant image of the Clow Card appears as Sakura's star glows and spins within the rod. Sakura's clothing changes into a pink, fluffy dress with flowing ribbons, and a picture of a heart on the front.*_ [Sakura's LP: 5000]

_**Yami:** "Dark Magician!" *Sets one of five cards into the Active Slot. The Dark Magician appears from a shadowy pentagram, and swings his rod around before striking a pose, all the while hovering in mid-air.*_ [HP: 3500]

  


"White Lightning Attack!" Zero commanded. The blue-eyed dragon powered up its primary breath weapon and blasted a stream of lightning at the group. The four monsters scattered, as did their players. Sakura leaped back to avoid the blast and ran into the battle, her rod being held like a weapon.

"Sakura!!" Mokuba cried. "Don't, you'll get hurt!"

Sakura's eyes sparkled subtly. "This unit will survive. For you, Capu-kun." Sakura's Duel AI took control of the girl's reactions, but this time the program was not maliscious. The AI was actually working with Sakura's wishes in mind.

Sakura twirled her rod as if it were a cheerleader's baton and thwacked the Blue Eyes White Dragon with all of her might. With the power of the Hope card running through her, the robot's strength was increased to the level of a monster. But the power boost wasn't enough to hurt the mighty dragon. Blue Eyes swung a claw at Sakura, but she deftly avoided the attack with a backflip.

Rika twirled a card in her fingers and slashed it when Renamon began her charge. "Modify!! Flareon, activate!!" Ash smirked nearby as he realized that Rika was actually using the cards he gave her!

Renamon's fur became bright red and her body was enveloped in an aura of flame, all in a split-seconds time. Renamon leapt through the air and called upon Flareon's Quick Attack. Renamon's attack power spiked (as was usually the case with Pokemon techniques) as she unleashed a rapid series of claw slashes and paw kicks. [R's ATK -- 2380]

"Close, but no cigar!" Zero taunted. His Blue Eyes counterattacked with a furious claw slash that connected easily, since Renamon was too busy with her special attack to defend herself. Renamon flew through the air and reverted to her normal colors in midflight. The Dark Magician caught her magically, and the digimon teleported from sight as she caught her breath. [R's HP -- 1530]

"Damn, they make dragons tough in Duel Monsters," Rika said in disbelief.

"Almost as tough as the dragons in Pokemon," Ash quipped. "Pikachu, show this overgrown lightning rod how we deal with dragons back home!!"

Pikachu smiled chibishly as he raced towards the White Dragon. His body crackled with electricity as he prepared for an attack. The Blue Eyes seemed unfazed. In fact, he seemed to find it amusing.

"That rodent won't accomplish anything with his attack," Zero said. "But he'll certainly be easier to hit. White Lightning!" The Blue Eyes charged up his attack and blasted it straight at Pikachu, who was charging head-long into it!

"Now, Pikachu!!" Ash shouted. "Throw it right back at him!!"

Pikachu leapt straight up into the air. The White Lightning attack followed him with equal quickness and ensnared the pokemon in its deadly grip. Pikachu growled as the lightning coursed over his body, crackling with enough power to annihilate just about anything it hit. But Pikachu had dealt with electricity all his life, and he knew how to handle it - even if the electricity wasn't his own.

Zero was aghast. "He absorbed the attack!!"

Ash laughed and pointed straight at the Blue Eyes. "Now, give it back to him! Thunder!!"

"Pikaaaaa-CHUUUUU!!" The electric pokemon used all the electricity he'd stolen from the Blue Eyes' attack and threw it right back at him with even more force. The humans in the room shielded their eyes as Pikachu's attack collided with the White Dragon and created a deafening thunderclap. [P's ATK -- 7535]

"Blue Eyes, DODGE!" Zero cried. But the dragon was simply too large and too surprised to avoid the attack. The dragon was thrown back with enough force to crash into the edge of Zero's summoning circle. The dragon's body smoldered from the intensity of the attack. Even though dragons were resistant to elemental attacks, that attack had obliterated more than half of the dragon's health! [BEWD's HP -- 1482]

"Go on, throw another White Lightning attack!" Ash challenged boldly. "I DARE you!!"

Zero growled angrily. His monster had been manhandled by a puny little rat! "MODIFY!" Zero raised his hands and summoned a second tablet to the field. This tablet had the picture of what looked like a sun shining its light in all directions. "Super Rejuvenation!"

[BEWD's HP -- 3482]

Yami swore as the magic effect returned the Blue Eyes Dragon to almost full health. "Ash, call Pikachu back, now!!"

"Slash that rodent to pieces!" Zero ordered. The white dragon leapt across the field and slashed at Pikachu with all his might. Luckily, Pikachu was able to use its Agility attack to avoid being hit, just in time. The rodent raced around the field and looked for another opening for an attack.

"My turn!" Terriermon cheered. "Bunny Blast!" A green orb appeared in Terriermon's mouth and exploded from it like a rocket. The attack knocked the Blue Eyes in the side, but did little to damage it. However, it did knock the dragon off balance long enough for someone else to finish the job.

Dark Magician and Sakura stood side by side, their magical rods pointed straight at Zero's dragon. Sakura and Yami simultaneously shouted the words that triggered the assault. "Fusion Magic Attack!!" [Combined Attack -- 3000, Dark & Light]

"And I'll also slash my Buster Blader to double the strength of the attack against your dragon!" Yami's card slash doubled the size and ferocity of his and Sakura's attack, making it suitably large enough to obliterate the Blue Eyes. Unfortunately, Zero's grin indicated that he was ready to defend his monster.

"Holy Barrier, Mirror Force!" A third tablet erupted into existence, and manifested as an invisible barrier encircling the Blue Eyes. The dragon's wings shielded its body from the impending attack while the Mirror Force knocked it into a random direction. It was heading straight for Terriermon!

"Alias!!" Rika shouted, just as the attack seemed to hit. Terriermon flew backwards from the force of the blast, as his illusionary copy was incinerated by the attack. Terriermon was alive, and amazed that he was.

"Phew," Terriermon said in thanks. "That's what I call a close shave!"

"Now it's our turn to give that dragon a close shave!" Henry revealed a Musyamon card and used it on Terriermon, which gave the guy access to a samurai sword almost twice as long as he was tall, and also gave him a Terrier-sized suit of armor. Musyamon's strength was deadly enough, but when combined with Terriermon's speed, it made an unstoppable combination!

"Get 'im, Terriermon!" Henry ordered. The pint-sized rookie leapt at the White Dragon and prepared to cleave him in half.

Sakura twirled her rod and held her palm towards the attacking digimon. "Sword!! Give Terriermon the strength to win!!" The spirit of the Sword Card flew through the air like a bullet and fused itself with Terriermon's weapon. In a flash, Terriermon's sword was given a silver sheen and the glow of magical power!

[Terriermon -- ATK 3475]

Zero knew that the Blue Eyes was too slow to dodge that. So he did the only thing he could do - he sprung a trap! 

"Negate Attack!" Terriermon landed a few dozen sword strikes, but every single strike collided with a barrier protected the dragon from damage. Blue Eyes counterattacked with White Lightning, knocking Terriermon through the air and taking Henry down with him. Terriermon's blade landed in the ground with a loud _shink_. [T's HP -- 650]

"He has so many traps that we might end up destroying ourselves," Yami said grimly. "Dark Magician, get ready! We're going to deal with his traps, once and for all!"

The magician nodded and hovered in wait. Yami slowly drew a card from his deck to reload his hand, and got the card he was after.

"Switch!" Yami removed the Dark Magician from the Active Slot and replaced him with a face-down card. An invisible force appeared at Yami's side, then faded into nothingness as it blended with the environment. To all outward appearances, Yami was defenseless.

Zero grinned. "You think that I would be foolish enough to attack you, 'Pharaoh'? I'm not so foolish as to fall for that trick." 

Yami frowned across the battlefield, but did nothing. He folded his arms, and waited.

"What's he doing?" Rika gasped. "Without a monster, he's defenseless."

"He's got a plan," Ash said with a smile. "So we've got to do our part, and make Zero do what we want!"

Rika still didn't trust Yugi, but she understood what Ash was saying. If they were going to beat this unstoppable monster, they would have to work together without hesitation. "...Okay! Let's do it!"

_** Rika's Card Slash sequence **_

"Modify! Vaporeon, activate!!"

Renamon's flur flashed blue, and her tail started to flow like water. Renamon and Pikachu met near the center of the battlefield and prepared for an attack that would end this match. Assuming Zero didn't spring another trap, that is.

"Come on guys, we need all the help we can get!" Rika shouted.

"O~kay!" Sakura cried. The magical robot leapt to Renamon's side and held her staff out, while calling on an attack card that would blend well with Lightning and Water. "Shot Card! Please, grant your power to my friends!"

The figure of a boy with a lot of hair appeared in the midst of the group. The spirit of the Shot Card added its own power to the attack.

Terriermon and Henry watched nearby. They didn't have the ability to add their strength to the attack, but they watched in awe, and prayed that this would work. If Zero played the right card, the resulting counterattack could destroy them all.

Yami watched the attack intensely. _Get ready..._

[Combined Attack -- 8580, Focused Lightning]

Zero cringed. A focused attack like that could hurt even a monster resistant to elemental attacks, like the Blue Eyes! If that attack hit, Blue Eyes would be annihilated!

Zero's sennin eye appeared on his forehead, giving off red light and an evil hum. "You think you can defeat me!! Well come and get it!!"

"You heard him, guys! Let him have it!" Ash shouted. At that moment, the Shot spirit launched through the air like a bullet, and the special attacks of Renamon and Pikachu combined with spirit's aura, with explosive results.

_**Sakura, Rika, and Ash: **"RAIGEKI SHOTGUN!!"_

Yami's eyes remained focused on Zero. _Come on, come on..._

__Zero's right arm shot up as he summoned the power of a tablet. "Energy Drain! Take away all their power and knock them down to zero!!"

Yami smirked. _"Now!"_

"Activate magic card!" Yami pointed towards the sky. The face-down card in his Active Slot was revealed to be a card depicting an arrow of light. "Living Arrow! Redirect his trap!"

Zero's eyes widened in disbelief. Instinctively, Zero through up his left hand and summoned a Magic Jammer trap to negate the effects of Yami's Living Arrow.

But the trap had absolutely no effect.

"Living Arrow's powers are focused while it's in the Active Slot, Zero!" Yami shouted. "Although I am defenseless, my magic card is unstoppable! Your traps are useless against it!"

"No!" Zero's Energy Drain tablet was forcibly fused with the Living Arrow card, which immediately impaled the Blue Eyes White Dragon and wiped out all the energy in its body. The unstoppable dragon was powerless! [BEWD -- ATK 0, DEF 0]

Yami's sennin eye glowed with the power of his confidence. "This game is OVER!"

Zero screamed as the Raigeki Shotgun incinerated the mighty Blue Eyes, and transfered all of the pain to the dragon's summoner. Zero's summoning circle exploded with fire like a volcano, which swirled around the screaming player as his tablets were shattered. By the time the attack was finished, Zero's entire body was reduced to ashes. All that was left of the villain was the golden mask that covered his face.

**** Zero's LP: 0000 ****

  


"Yeah!!" Ash cheered before flashing a victory sign. "We did it!"

His pokemon cheered in agreement. "Pi Pika-chu!" Renamon stood lifelessly at the pokemon's side, unable to celebrate due to a lack of spirit. Renamon was not alive - just a hologram.

"We did it! We really did it!" Sakura said joyously. Ash and the robot hugged each other happily, and both Rika and Henry joined in the celebration. They jumped up and down, doing a victory dance very similar to a football team's post-game celebration.

Yami breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Mokuba. The young boy winked and gave the duelist a thumbs-up. Yami nodded in reply.

"I told you this guy would be easy!" Ash said with a big smile.

"You said nothing of the sort!" Rika taunted. "You were too busy trying to act all tough!"

Ash playfully stuck his tongue at her. "Well excuse me for being a little cocky!"

"I think you did great!" Sakura said enthusiastically. She gave Ash a playful kiss on the cheek. Ash didn't seem to mind, but Mokuba and Rika both went red at seeing the display. Rika hastily broke up the celebration, much to Ash and Sakura's confusion.

Yami felt a breeze of wind, and looked around slowly. The room was starting to stir from a sourceless breeze, which was steadily growing stronger.

Henry felt it too, and adopted an expression of worry. "Uh, guys. I don't think we're out of the woods just yet."

Slowly, the entire party looked up into the swirling sky of light and darkness. Somewhere high in the portal of light, a gigantic figure started to form. Data pixels flew from all directions and coelesced into one giant shape. The shape was incomplete, as shown by the missing patches of data that fizzled at various parts of the monster's head, arms, and body. The figure had a dark sheen, as if it were made of polished ebony. And the entity bore an uncanny resemblance to a statue of the Pharaoh.

Sakura dropped her rod in shock. "Oh my God..."

  


----------------------------  
_**Form 2: Exodia Zero**_  
_**ATK: ???, DEF: ????**_  
_**ENERGY: 9999 LP - ∞**_  
----------------------------  


  


The dark Exodia stared down at the paltry organisms called humans. **"Pathetic fools. This battle is not over yet."**

A sennin eye appeared on Exodia's forehead, and gave off the awesome light of infinity. **"If anything, the battle has just begun."**

  



	12. Zero Hour! Do Not Fear Infinity!

  


**-------------------**  
**Form 2: Exodia Zero**  
**ATK: ???, DEF: ????**  
**ENERGY: 9999+ LP**  
**-------------------**  


  


_Yami, 4000 LP. Duelist._

"This could pose a problem." The young man, who was once the master of the fearsome Exodia, stood amidst a crowd of younger but equally strong players. Each of them felt like ants as they stared at the monstrosity towering above them. Zero had unleashed Exodia's power without Juri's Ka, which meant that Yami and his friends were up against a monster without restraints, be they physical, spiritual, or ethical.

_Ash, 4000 LP. Trainer._

"I didn't think beating Zero would be easy," the trainer said. "But this is more than I expected." Ash wanted more than anything to defeat Zero and claim victory, but not for the prize, and not for the chance to save the world. Ash promised Misty that he would win, and he intended to keep that promise.

_Henry, 4000 LP. Tamer._

"Zero managed to summon Exodia without Jeri," the blue-haired boy gasped. "After everything we've done to try and prevent this from happening, we ended up generating enough energy for him to complete the summon."

_Sakura, Hope Costume, 5000 LP. Cardcaptor and DuelBot._

"Wow...!" The duelBot was designed and programmed to measure the limits of any enemy and deal with them appropriately, whether that enemy was a gamer or a wild monster from Zero's island. But Sakura's battle program had never seen anything that could prepare her for something like Exodia. He was a monster with infinite power.

_Rika, 4000 LP. Tamer._

"There's got to be something we can do," the redhead said assertively. Rika's life had taken a turn for the worst lately, and her childhood beliefs were beginning to feel like anvils weighing her down, rather than cornerstones supporting her. Now, more than ever, Rika felt like she was dealing with something beyond her ability to understand, or control.

_Zero, Exodia Costume, 9999 LP._

"**It won't be long now until you're all nothing more than a pile of ashes.**" The black Exodia called upon his magical energies and focused them on the face of his right palm. "**And speaking of 'Ash', it's time for me to deal with that annoying rodent that insulted me earlier.**"

Ash went wide-eyed as Exodia's gigantic eyes focused on Pikachu. "PI-KA-CHUU!" The trainer ran as fast as he could towards his pokemon, who was paralyzed with fear by the monstrous Exodia.

"**DIE!!**" Exodia's attack shot through the air. Ash tackled Pikachu, and the two of them slid across the floor. The attack exploded against the marble floor, showering the rest of the room with rubble and knocking Ash further away. The trainer slammed into the wall, Pikachu still tightly in his grasp.

"Ash!" Rika cried. She glared at Exodia and drew the card that she'd used to annihilate the duelist Bones and his zombie army. "Why you... WILD SEVENS!!" Rika slashed the option card - a card so rare that only two cards with its power existed. One was in Rika's possession, and the other card belonged to the Digimon King, Ryo. His version of the card was called 'Goliath'.

Renamon's claws tripled in size, and the digimon's eyes took on a feral appearance as her battle limits were removed. Renamon was now a killing machine, able to annihilate digimon three stages above her at the cost of most of her summoner's energy. Renamon had just enough power for one attack, and that attack would be against Zero. [Rika's LP -- 2000 || Renamon's ATK/DEF -- 7777]

"How pathetic." Exodia shot his arm forth and blasted Renamon as she leapt through the air. But to the beings shock, Renamon plowed through the attack as if it were nothing! [Exodia's ATK: 4999 Blast]

_The Wild Sevens card has boosted Renamon's battle capabilities to a level high enough to resist Exodia's basic attacks!_ Yugi noted with optimism.

Yami frowned as he waited for an opening. _But if Exodia unleashes his Infinity Attack Fusion, nothing will be able to resist it. We must figure out a way to prevent Zero from using that aspect of Exodia's power._

Renamon slashed at Exodia's midsection with all her might. Zero's form was composed of Exodia's upper body, but it didn't have any discernible legs. All that could be seen was a dark hole from which Exodia's form originated, like a genie that originated from a magic lamp. So Renamon's target had to be Exodia's torso, even though that meant jumping more than twenty meters into the air. Luckily, there was no ceiling to speak of - only an endless, swirling whirlpool of light.

Exodia's midsection was completely severed from the thin, gaseous line that should have been Exodia's lower half. However, the damage was healed almost immediately, and the dark god's energy seemed to increase as a result of the attack! [Zero's LP -- 13,888]

"What the-!?" Rika couldn't believe it! How did that happen!

"**Thank you for your help, my dear,**" Zero chortled. "**The more battle energy you generate, the stronger I will become! And soon I will be able to wipe out everyone on this island with one use of Exodia's ultimate attack!**" Exodia unleashed another blast at Renamon, and this one sent the supercharged rookie flying across the room and crashing through the wood-and-marble wall. Although Renamon was still powered up enough to ignore the damage, her fragile body was stunned by the ferocity of Exodia's attack. [Exodia's ATK: 6944 Blast]

"Exodia absorbs battle damage!" Henry shouted. "Anytime he deals or receives damage, he'll grow stronger!"

Ash crawled to his feet. He was battered and bruised, but technically unharmed. That is, his life points were intact, and right now that was the most important thing. "How're we supposed to defeat something that we can't even hurt?"

Mokuba watched from the sidelines, where Sakura was standing to protect him. "Exodia is considered to be the perfect monster in the regular Duel Monsters game. He has no weaknesses. And Zero's physical incarnation of him seems to be the same way."

"That's not true!" Yami shouted. "Every monster has a weakness, including Exodia!"

"Well then, I hope you have a plan," Rika grumbled. Renamon phased into being beside her. "Because I'm fresh out of Wild cards."

"WATCH OUT!" Ash yelled. Everyone scattered as Exodia blasted them again, narrowly missing the humans. The floor of the room shattered, leaving nothing but dirt ground beneath it. The Eye of Ra computer seemed to resist the carnage around it, thanks to what appeared to be a protective barrier.

Yami got to his feet quickly, as did the others. "Exodia's strength lies in his five parts. Using his full strength requires all five pieces. And in Zero's case, that means he must have access to the five tablets that represent Exodia's pieces!"

FLASH!

_"The Pharaoh's priests discovered that Juri possessed a Ka... the spirit of a Duel Monster in my time. They tried to draw it out and capture it within a tablet, but each attempt failed. The Ka was too powerful to be contained by one tablet. They were forced to capture the Ka in five tablets."_

/FLASH!

"If we can destroy the tablets, or seal their power somehow, then Exodia won't be at full power!" Yami said with certainty. "We just have to attack the tablets, not Zero himself!"

"But the tablets aren't here," Sakura said after a quick look. Zero was powering up his next attack. "He doesn't seem to have summoned them like he has his previous tablets."

"They must be in that hole where his feet should be!" Ash said, just before racing for cover. The others followed suit, and everyone managed to avoid Exodia's energy blast.

Rika patted her backside, which was singed by the blast. "I think his aim is getting better. We have to do something before he starts picking us off, one by one."

"Like fish in a barrel," Henry added.

Yami fanned out his cards. "Unlike fish, we have a way to fight back." The duelist took the middle card of his hand and slid it into the active slot. The Duel Ark powered up as the card triggered the Mini-Cyber's program. "Dark Magician!" The purple-clad mage appeared next to his master.

"If we use monsters that have an advantage over Exodia's Dark element to defend ourselves, then we can prevent any loss of life points," Yami told the others. "Use your Light monsters to defend yourself and your partner!"

"Warriors, Steel-types, and other Dark Monsters are good choices too," Ash said. "Even though they won't last long against Exodia's attacks, we won't be damaged. And as much as I hate to say it, winning may mean that we'll have to sacrifice a lot of our monsters this way."

"Ash..." Rika knew why the trainer had such a heavy heart about it. Each of his monsters was like a Partner to him. Ash felt the same way for every one of his monsters the way Rika did for Renamon. It would be very hard for him to sacrifice them for any reason. In fact, Rika was sure that Ash would rather take the hit himself, instead of sacrificing his pokemon.

_I'll protect you Ash,_ Rika whispered inside herself. _So that you can keep your promise to Misty._

Each player split up so as to give each other enough room to fight. Although none of them said it, they all knew that this would also help the others survive, even if one of them were targeted by Exodia's attack.

_Our magic and trap cards are probably not strong enough to affect Exodia's physical form,_ Yami thought. _But we can distract him with some direct attacks._

_Let's do our best!_ Yugi thought back. _I'm with you, spirit!_

_Thank you, Aibou. We will succeed... so long as Exodia doesn't achieve an energy level of 99,000. If that happens, it's Game Over for everyone on this island._

  


--

  


Takato touched the shield that prevented him and Jeri from entering the castle. Now that he was alive, Jeri brought Takato up to speed on what was happening inside.

"They should be able to win without us," Jeri said softly. She was still kneeling at Joey's side, making sure that he was comfortable even while he was unconscious. "Zero is undoubtedly strong, but he is just one man. Rika and Henry and the others should have no difficulty making him surrender."

"I can't just stand out here and do nothing," Takato said as he kicked the shield one last time. "I have to be there with them, if only to watch and make sure they win. I can't shake this bad feeling I have."

_Though I find it odd, I concur with the Guilty Prince's feelings,_ Juri said from with Jeri's subconscious.

_Guilty Prince? That's the Takato in the past, right?_

_Yes. I will explain in greater detail another time. Right now, I think we should consider his suggestion though. I am worried about my lord Pharaoh._

Jeri sensed the love and concern that her Ka was feeling at that moment. It was as strong as what Jeri felt for Takato.

"...Maybe we should go inside," Jeri said sheepishly. "But how can we get in, Takato?"

The goggle boy thought about what they could do, but each of his ideas was scrapped almost as quickly. Getting past an impenetrable shield seemed difficult. That is, if the shield was truly impenetrable.

"You said that there's no way to break through this shield, right?" Takato asked aloud.

Jeri nodded slowly. "I think so. Several other players have been trying for hours at other parts of the barrier, and they don't seem to be succeeding."

Takato tapped his cheek thoughtfully. "We probably can't fly over it or move under it. But maybe we can ignore it."

"Hmm?" Jeri blinked.

Takato grabbed Joey's ark and locked it into place on his wrist. He then took one of his own cards and slashed it. "Digiport! Open a portal through the barrier! DIGIPORT!" A ray of blue light shot from the Duel Ark, and a metallic archway appeared. The archway looked like a glorified, futuristic version of an airport's walk-through metal detector.

"It worked!" Takato cheered. "...Maybe." Takato stepped forward and tentatively tapped the area beneath the archway. When he felt no resistance, Takato stepped forward. He turned and extended his hands triumphantly. "See, I knew it would work!"

"What do we do with Joey?" Jeri asked. "I don't think we can carry him, and I don't know when he'll wake up. He might be more seriously injured than I thought."

"Let's try to wake him up first, then we'll go," Takato decided. "If we can't wake him up, then... I guess we'll stay out here."

Jeri smiled. "Thank you, Takato. You're the best."

The two kids did their best to try and wake Joey up, even going so far as to summon a Geckomon and having it burp excessively in the duelist's face. But nothing seemed to phase the unconscious duelist.

Juri coaxed her host to keep trying. Because she wanted to get into the Crystal Castle, if it was the last thing she did. She had a bad feeling that just wouldn't go away.

  


--

  


"Kerpymon!" Henry shouted. The card he slashed was the Mega form of Lopmon, a digimon twin to Terriermon. Kerpymon manifested above Henry's parter just as Exodia's blast would have annihilated him. Kerpymon burst into feathers and light as a result of Exodia's attack. Terriermon watched in horror as Kerpymon was incinerated.

Henry didn't lose any life points, but he still felt like he lost an important part of himself. "I'm sorry, Sis."

Exodia's aura grew brighter and redder as he absorbed the battle damage done to Kerpymon. The dark god was reaching a level of power higher than any other monster could achieve, and he was doing it quickly. [Exodia's LP -- 54,000]

_The more HP each of our monsters loses, the greater his attack strength becomes,_ Yugi noted. _Even though we're not losing Life Points, Exodia is getting stronger and stronger. Soon, he will be able to unleash his final attack._

_And we're quickly running out of monsters that can resist backlash damage,_ Yami added. _If he hits one of our monsters that cannot resist backlash, our Life Points will plummet to 0, and the sudden shock could kill us!_

"It's time for something drastic, guys!" Rika yelled. "We're not getting anywhere just defending!"

"On my mark, command your monster to use their strongest special attack!" Yami shouted. The duelist drew a card from his deck and looked at it. As he expected, it was the card he needed. "Ready!"

Yami prepared to slash the chosen card. "Set!"

"**Your efforts are futile!**" Zero roared.

"GO!!" Every player ordered their monster on the offensive, and Yami slashed his card as quickly as he could.

** _Yami - Card Slash Sequence_ **

"Hand-Sealing Sword of Light!" Yami slashed the trap card and lifted it high into the air. A sword of golden light appeared from the tip of his card and pointed straight up. The sword flashed with the brilliance of all that was virtuous and shot into the air like a rocket. Yami watched as the sword dove into the black hole at Exodia's base and disappeared. There was a flash of light from within the hole, and Zero roared in pain as if a part of himself had been impaled.

Yami's Duel Ark revealed that the 'Right Arm of Exodia' had been removed from Zero's 'hand'. The tablet had been sealed!

"DIAMOND STORM!" [ATK 2550]

"THUNDERBOLT!" [ATK 3315]

"BUNNY BLAST!" [ATK 2625]

"DARK MAGIC ATTACK!" [ATK 4250]

Sakura twirled her staff and summoned the final trigger for the combined assault. "Clow Card! Use your strength to destroy Exodia! POWER!" Sakura pointed her magical rod straight at Exodia and unleashed the spirit of Power - a pink, fluffy warrior with a determined look in her eyes. POWER shot through the air, literally, heading straight for Exodia's heart, along with all the other mystical attacks. Without any defensive strength, Exodia would lose at least his torso, and summarily be incomplete and weak enough to destroy.

Exodia smiled greedily.

"Y**ou forget what I am capable of!**" The red sennin eye on Exodia's head flared, and the sword of light that had impaled his tablet was obliterated. Yami growled in pain as the backlash from the trap's destruction affected his arm. It felt like he was having a stroke.

"He negated the trap with a thought!" Yami said in shock. "Stop the attack!!"

But it was too late. POWER slammed into Exodia's chest, and the dark god absorbed the spirit's strength greedily. He did the same to each attack in turn. The humans could do nothing but be amazed as Exodia seemed to double in size, and his aura of evil became nightmarishly dark. 

"**And now, for the coup de grace!**" Exodia held his arms open wide, forming the shape of a cross with his body. Exodia's eyes glowed as brightly as the sun and shot through the air. One of the lights slammed into Yami's Dark Magician. The other headed straight for Ash.

"NO!!" Yami roared.

"Ahhh!!" Ash shielded himself from the impending attack. But just as the attack was about to hit, Renamon appeared out of nowhere like a ghost and held her arms out wide to take the full force of the blast.

"Rika, don't!!" Henry ordered. But it was too late.

The damage unleashed was comparable to that of a nuclear assault. Yami and Rika screamed as their senses were overloaded by the sheer power of Exodia's attack. Both of their clothes were singed and smoking by the time the attack had finished overloading their nerves. Yami collapsed, and Rika fell backwards to the ground.

[Rika: 0000 LP || Yami: 0000 LP || Exodia's LP -- 73,870]

"RIKA!" Ash cried. He raced across the field to where the girl fell, with Pikachu right behind him. Henry met the trainer there, just as Mokuba and Sakura ran over to where Yami fell.

"Yugi! YUGI!" Mokuba shook the boy, but there was no response. Parts of his Millennium Puzzle laid all around him, shattered by the intensity of Exodia's attack.

Henry cradled Rika's body, his hand placed lightly on her neck. He could not find a pulse.

"Rika, no... no!" Ash wept. "You can't be..."

"...Dead," Mokuba whispered. Yugi's pulse was gone. 

Zero laughed within the body of Exodia. He hovered within the Sphere of Light, much like a Tamer did when fused with their digimon partner. _Don't worry, my friends. They were just the first to die. The rest of you, will be next._

  


--

  


_Pharaoh!!_ Juri cried. Jeri screamed as she saw the death of Rika and Yugi Muto in her mind's eye. And she saw a flash of Exodia's image.

"Jeri, what's wrong!?" Takato said, scared as could be. "Wh-why'd you scream like that?"

"Yugi... and Rika... Exodia... they're..." Tears were all that Jeri could manage after that.

Takato didn't ask how Jeri knew. Because he was sure that his worst fears were coming to life. His gut feeling had been telling the truth. "We've got to get in there, now!"

"No!" Jeri yelled, grabbing Takato's leg and holding it with all her might. "You'll be hurt too!"

"But we've got to do something!" Takato panted as his feelings stampeded through his brain like a rampaging elephant. "Our friends need us!"

Jeri looked up, her tears and her laid-out position making her look pitiful. "Takato. I... I must go. Not you."

"You're not going," Takato said firmly. "If we fail, I want you to run as far away as you can!"

"I can't run anywhere, Takato!" Jeri shouted, her face buried in Takato's shoe. "There's nowhere we can hide. I know what is inside that castle, and... and there's no place in the whole world that's safe from it."

"Jeri." Takato knelt as Jeri looked up, her face streaked with tears and dirt. She refused to let go of Takato's leg, even now, for fear that he would run off.

"I think there is something we can do," Takato said, his hands lightly caressing Jeri's face. "But to do it, you'll have to believe."

FLASH

_"Please don't do this!" Jeri cried. Takato looked at her intently. "I don't want you to get hurt..."_

_"If you believe in me, I won't lose," Takato said in a serious tone. When Jeri didn't answer, Takato repeated his affirmation. "Believe in me, Jeri. Please."_

/FLASH

Jeri sniffled. "I... I'm so scared. I don't want anyone to die... I just want it all to stop..."

"It can stop! We can still save Rika and Yugi, I know it! The same way you saved me!"

Takato's eyes burned with a fire that refused to die out. Takato's confidence was so strong, the boy almost seemed to glow with his burning passion. "Please. Believe."

Jeri stared into Takato's eyes. She wanted it all to stop. And now, more than ever, she believed in Takato. He remained strong when everything seemed to be crumbling around her. He even came back from the dead. With enough faith, could he do anything?

"...I believe, Takato," Jeri whispered. "I'll do anything you want me to do."

Takato nodded. "Then this is what we'll do..."

  


--

  


Exodia blasted away an Angemon summoned by Henry to protect Terriermon and himself. The angel was a Light monster, so Henry was spared the pain of his destruction thanks to its resistance to Darkness. Terriermon stood beside his tamer, waiting for the next order of business. [Exodia's LP: 80,000]

"Ash, if we're going to mount any kind of assault, we have to use monsters that are high enough in level to affect even Exodia!" Henry looked at his hand, which he had painstakingly prepared over the course of the battle to unleash the perfect evolution combo. "I need you to fight with me!"

Ash was cradling Rika sadly. His eyes were covered by the shadow of his black hair, and his skin was as cold as ice. Pikachu knew that his trainer was really sad. It was painful for the pokemon to see him like this.

"Ash, come on!" Henry shouted. "Sakura and I can't stand up to this guy alone!" At that moment, Sakura was knocked back as a direct assault annihilated her Hope Costume. Luckily, Hope had the proper element to resist backlash damage from Exodia's attack, so Sakura was alive. Her clothes faded to their normal hue and shape, and she slumped to the ground, a little stunned. The duelBot pulled herself to her feet, activated her Light card to create a second Costume, and resumed her mission to defend Mokuba and Yugi's body.

Ash clenched his left fist tightly. It was encircled around Rika's hand. Ash made a silent promise, and let go of the girl. The trainer extended his arm and silently shifted into his slashing stance.

"Alright! AETHER WINGS and TARGET ALL!" Henry slashed his two rarest option cards. Sakura and the two monsters on the field glowed brightly as life energy rushed through them. It was time to unleash the powers inside them!

** _Hidden Power!_ **

"Terriermon, digivolve to.... Saint Gargomon!" The tiny terrier changed into his holographic card form, which rose into the sky as it shined. The card's image cracked and shattered as Saint Gargomon erupted from within. The immortal Mega flexed its mechanical arms and feathered wings before getting ready for battle. [Saint Gargomon - 3800/3500, SPD 15 - IMMORTAL]

"Pi-KAAAA... CHUUUUU!!" Pikachu's energy levels catapulted to a realm so high, that a legendary Zapdos would be hard-pressed to match the energy. Pikachu's size remained the same, but the markings on his body changed from brown and black to a bright red, like that of a warning label on a nuclear reactor. Pikachu crackled with lightning and thunder, becoming something beyond a mere pokemon. [Super Pikachu - 3400/3200, SPD 52 - IMMORTAL]

Sakura's clothes changed into a glamorous, beautiful costume that similar to the appearance of an angel. Sakura's clothes became a long, flowing dress like that of a princess. The gown was stark white, without a hint of impurity anywhere. A pair of feathered wings arched from the girl's back, and on her head was a shining gold tiara with a cross marking it. Not only did Sakura look more elegant, but she was also more powerful too! ['Clow Guardian' Costume - 3000/2100, SPD 30 - IMMORTAL]

Zero was surprised by the sudden change in his enemies. But he did his best to hide it. "**Well... three Immortal class opponents. At the very least, you'll survive long enough to see me unleash my final attack.**"

"Pikachu, get ready to jump into that dark hole!" Ash commanded. The pokemon responded with a quick 'Pika!'

"Sakura, you and Saint Gargomon back him up!" Henry shouted.

"I will do my best!" Sakura twirled her wand and stopped it with authority.

"**HA!**" Exodia shot an energy blast at the gathered warriors, but they were not phased. Sakura immediately leapt into the path of the attack and twirled her wand like a baton. The energies of the attack dispersed in hundreds of different directions, doing little more than superficial damage to the environment around them. [Exodia's LP -- 84,000]

Saint Gargomon jumped into the air and flapped his wings. The digimon zipped through the air and grabbed one of Exodia's arms, and he held it as tightly as he could. Since he couldn't damage Exodia without making him stronger, the best thing he could do was hold the beast at bay!

Pikachu moved with his Agility at such a speed that it was impossible to see him for most of the journey. The pokemon practically teleported across the arena and into the dark hole. Pikachu dove into the void and swam through it as if it were water. Upon moving deeper into the hole, Pikachu found that it was more like pudding than water. The pokemon swam through the void and searched for his targets.

It didn't take him long to find them. Pikachu gazed at the visage of five tablets, each of them twice the height of an adult human and built of solid stone. Each tablet showed a piece of Exodia's body - two arms, two legs, and a masked face that not even a mother could love. Pikachu noticed that each tablet was glowing with a red light similar to the light made by the eye on Exodia's forehead. Perhaps it was a barrier?

Pikachu didn't waste time. The pokemon focused his energies into a ball of lightning at his nose-tip, and let loose with a Thunder attack. The attack slammed into the middle tablet, but did little more than make a thunderclap on impact. The tablet seemed undamaged by the assault.

_*Outside the void: Sakura is knocked into a wall by the force of another attack, and Exodia throws Saint Gargomon like a rag doll. Both of them crash-land and are knocked senseless, leaving Henry and Ash vulnerable. [Exodia's LP -- 96,000]*_

Pikachu was growing restless. He had to do something! If he didn't think of a way to shatter these tablets, everything on this island, holographic or not, would be reduced to nothing but dust. He couldn't let that happen. Pikachu refused to fail Ash when he needed him most!

The pokemon summoned every last ounce of strength he had and focused it all into one, ferocious assault. Pikachu's eyes blurred as the pokemon expended every last kilowatt he thought he had. When a crack appeared on the center tablet, Pikachu's spirits rose! He drew on still more power and pushed it into the current of his lightning attack. Pikachu's body started to weaken, and the red marks on his cheeks started to bleed, as they were the source of his electrical current. His body overloading, Pikachu still pushed with all the power he had. The tablet cracked even more, and Pikachu knew he would do it! Pikachu summoned the last reserves he had and made a silent affirmation to himself. He had served Ash well.

"Pi-Kaaaa-CHUUUUUU!!!" The pokemon's final burst obliterated the tablet of Exodia's head. And outside the void, the head of Zero's costume exploded like a firework pinata. Pikachu collapsed into unconsciousness before his essence returned to the card in Ash's ark.

[Exodia's LP: 98,500]

"He did it!!" Ash shouted. "Pikachu did it!!"

"Exodia's lost his ability to absorb battle damage!" Henry realized. "Now's the time to attack! If we can damage him, we may be able to destroy him!"

Ash slashed a random Pokemon card to use as a quick attack. Henry did the same with a digimon. Balls of light appeared in Ash's and Henry's hand, each representing the life force of one monster, focused into one moment of fury.

"Lugia Attack!!"

"Rapidmon Attack!!" Henry and Ash pointed at Exodia, and the balls of light exploded like rockets from their hands. The balls expanded into the translucent images of the legendary Lugia and the ultimate Rapidmon, and the two monsters crashed into Exodia's body like missiles. Exodia flailed about in pain as his body was damaged by the assault!

[Exodia's LP -- 92,692]

"YEAH!!" Ash and Henry shouted in unison. They slashed several more cards and pressed the assault. The battle had just taken a turn for the better.

Exodia shot a blast at the two boys, and Henry was just barely able to slash his Gargomon in time to block the dark attack. Since Gargomon was a Beast-Warrior monster, he was able to prevent any damage from carrying over to Henry. And summarily, Ash was saved from injury as well.

"That was close," Ash panted.

"Yeah. He's vulnerable now, but he still has enough attack power to annihilate us in one hit." Henry held a card at the ready. "Let's not get cocky."

Inside Exodia, Zero contemplated what was happening. He wasn't finished yet. If he could just get Juri's Ka to awaken, he could draw on its strength and gain better control of Exodia's tablets. If only he could just...

Zero realized with a start that Jeri was about to do it for him. Oh, how foolish she was.

  


--

  


Jeri took a deep breath. "I'm ready, Takato."

Takato nodded. He was facing her in order to help her unleash her true power, in the same way he had with Guilmon once before. Takato gently took Jeri's hands.

"Everything's going to be okay," Takato said softly. "I promise I won't let anything hurt you."

"And I promise I won't let anything hurt you," Jeri replied as she closed her eyes. "Never again."

Takato felt like he was saying wedding vows to a bride - mainly because of the way they were standing. Takato cleared his throat and tried to focus on the matter at hand. He didn't know how he joined with Guilmon the first time, but he wanted more than anything to help Jeri do the same thing.

Joey's Duel Ark reacted. The device glowed blue, and the hands of the two children did the same. Suddenly, it became clear.

"I want you to imagine that you're inside your mind," Takato said. "Whenever I imagine my mind, I imagine my bedroom. For you, it'll be different."

_*Jeri imagines a stage, pitch black except for a few stagelights. The audience chamber is filled with empty seats. Jeri is standing at the forefront of the stage.*_

"Think about that thing inside that represents who you are. For me, it's Guilmon. For you, it might be Leomon, or something else. Whatever it is, I want you to focus on that thing, and imagine yourself standing with it."

_*In her mind, Jeri slowly turns. Standing in the middle of the stage is another her, except with much darker skin, dressed in a simple rag outfit. Backstage, there is the vague outline of two figures, neither of them visible in the spotlight.*_

"I think I see them, Takato."

The boy frowned. "Them?"

_*Jeri looks into the other girl's eyes. The girl bows her head, but says nothing. The figures backstage remain motionless, but they are clearly not Jeri's imagination. They are there.*_

"I see three people," Jeri said. "Three... things."

"One of them has to be that monster that everyone's afraid of," Takato replied. "Try to approach that one."

_*Jeri moves towards the backstage. She pauses beside the dark-skinned girl and puts a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl looks up, and smiles. Jeri then proceeds backstage, where it becomes difficult to see.*_

"There's no light here," Jeri said, a little scared. "There's only darkness."

"You are the light," Takato said. His eyes were now closed as well. "Use your heart to illuminate the darkness."

_*Jeri concentrates, and the light of her soul illuminates the darkness. Jeri finds herself standing before two sarcophagi, each of them massive and decorated with many symbols. One of them resembled a lion-man. The other resembled a Pharaoh.*_

"Leomon is here," Jeri gasped.

_*Jeri looked down at her feet, and jumped back at what she saw. A massive japanese kanji symbol, meaning 'Reaper', lay at her feet. It was a trap door, covered by chains thick enough to hold down a giant. Jeri's favorite hand-puppet was impaled by a part of the chain, through one of its button eyes.*_

"...And the D-Reaper is here too," Jeri whispered.

Takato rubbed the girl's hand lightly, trying to remind her that he was there. With both of them in a trance like this, it was sometimes hard to tell where they were. "Exodia is there too, right?"

"Yes," Jeri said. "But, Leomon..."

"I understand how you feel," Takato said. "But right now, Exodia is the one we need. Without him, I don't think we can help the others."

_*Jeri carefully steps over the sealed trap door and stands between the two sarcophagi, looking at each one in turn.*_

"I... don't know which one to open."

Takato gripped Jeri's hands a little tighter. "Choose Exodia."

_*Jeri feels a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She turns, and sees the dark-skinned girl smiling at her. The girl motions towards Leomon's casket.*_

"Choose Exodia," Takato repeated. "He is the only one who stands a chance against Zero."

_*The dark-skinned girl stands between the sarcophagi as well, and turns to face Jeri. She holds out her hands and gently touches both sarcophagi. Jeri smiles, and understands. She does the same.*_

__"I will free them both," Jeri said.

Takato gasped. "Biomerge... twice? But how?" Jeri in the real world responded in unison with Juri in her mind room.

_"Two souls, united as one. Let our fates be joined, and let those we've lost now be freed. We shall win together..."_

__Jeri's eyes shot open. "OR TOGETHER WE'LL FALL!!"

--

  


The Eye of Ra - both the room and the computer - started to shake violently as an earthquake came into being. Henry and Ash fell to the ground, while Sakura and Saint Gargomon hovered just above the ground.

"What's going on!?" Ash yelled. "Is Zero changing again!?"

Henry looked down at his Duel Ark. "There's another huge power awakening nearby!"

**"Fools!"** Zero cried victoriously. **"Exodia has been released! And now, its tablets shall be revived and made unbreakable, as the God himself now fuels me!"** Exodia Zero's head popped back into being, and his aura flared with power as he rapidly began to reach the critical limit. His life points started to increase rapidly, and the moment when he would reach his full power was imminent.

"How can Exodia be freed!?" Henry said. "Jeri isn't even here, and Sakura isn't there to release her power like Zero wanted!"

Sakura's eyes scanned the vicinity and picked up more information. "It's Joey Wheeler's Ark! It's reacting in combination with some sort of spiritual power! Somebody else is triggering the summoning of Jeri's Ka!"

[Exodia's LP: 94,000...95,000...96,000...]

"What now!?" Ash shouted.

"We can't run!" Henry replied. "Do whatever you can to stop his attack. We have to stop him NOW!!" Henry slashed every card in his hand that could conceivably prevent Exodia from reaching full power, and both Ash and Sakura did the same. But nothing seemed to affect the Forbidden One in the slightest.

Just as he reached his maximum power, something crashed through the castle walls loud enough to make noise in the Eye of Ra. Two distinct entities crashed through the walls of the Eye of Ra. One of them landed feet-first in front of the players, and the other one hovered in the air.

One of the new arrivals looked just like Jeri, albeit with darker skin and black make-up around her eyes in the common Egyptian style. She was apparently flying in mid-air through some power that only Sakura could see. The duelBot's sensors revealed that Exodia itself, the spirit of the Forbidden God, was surrounding the girl like a ghost. The dark-skinned girl was Exodia's medium.

"Jeri's past self and the Ka they shared," Sakura said in shock. "Exodia Juri..."

The other arrival was much different in appearance. It was a lion-man, standing a full eight feet tall, dressed in green armor that appeared to be made of emerald green digichromozoid. In his right hand was a sword that could cleave a dumptruck in half, and on his left arm was a shield bearing the symbol of a lion's head.

"Is that... Leomon?" Henry whispered in shock.

**Exodia Juri**  
* ATK: ??? / DEF: ???  
* ENERGY: Infinite [MAX]  


  


**Magna Leomon**  
* Mega + Hidden Power. LEVEL 8.  
* ATK: 2750, DEF: 2500, SPD: 8.  
* ENERGY: 4000. IMMORTAL, BREAK (special attack can shatter walls and barriers).  


  


"MAGNA CHARGE!" The beast-man roared with the fury of a lion and lifted his sword high into the air. His battle cry echoed for miles, and the shockwave it made seemed to infuse anything it touched with the power of his heart. Exodia Zero was stunned by its touch, as if he'd touched the hottest surface imaginable.

Yugi opened his eyes, making Mokuba gasp in shock.

Rika moaned lightly before sitting up. "My head..."

The others couldn't believe it. Henry laughed victoriously, and Ash seemed overcome with happiness. The best he could do was smile and wipe his eyes.

"Your turn!" Magna Leomon shouted.

Juri turned and faced Zero. The fragile girl spoke with the voice so deep and rumbling, that it struck fear in those who heard it. **"A God's power cannot be copied without grave consequences. I will punish you personally."**

**"You're too late!"** Zero roared. **"It is time for this world to fall at my feet! INFINITY ATTACK FUSION!!"** Zero extended his arms, forming the shape of an Ankh with his body, and released all the power within his body.

With a wave of her hand, Juri called forth her own infinite power. **"Only one Infinity can exist. And it will not be you!!"** Juri crossed her hands at the wrist and summoned the strength of Exodia. With a single command, she unleashed a blast that would normally obliterate any monster. But Zero was ready to fight for his right to Infinite Power. He directed all his power at Juri, and the two attacks collided in mid-air. The tug-of-war had begun.

"What's going on!" Yugi shouted as he gathered up the pieces of his puzzle. "How did Jeri summon Exodia!"

Magna Leomon sheathed his sword. "I'll explain later. Right now, I need to get you out of here! We don't have much time!"

Yugi understood. In Duel Monsters, equal attack powers would destroy each other, and sometimes everything else on the battlefield. Although physical monsters had different laws of game-physics, the likelihood of everything being destroyed was still very high. 

"Then let's go!" Yugi picked up the last piece of his puzzle, secured all the pieces in his jacket, and tied it off so that none of them would fall out. The boy slung his jacket-sack over his shoulder and raced towards the exit.

"Move it!" Henry shouted. He and Ash helped Rika to her feet and half-carried her out of the room. Mokuba and Sakura made a break for it as well. Magna Leomon made sure they were all well on their way, but didn't leave the room.

"Thank you," the digimon whispered as she watched Juri and Zero. It wouldn't be long before their attacks reached critical mass.

Juri looked down from high above, smiled, and nodded. There was a wordless exchange of thanks, and a wordless exchange of goodbyes.

"One last thing, just to be certain!" Magna Leomon shouted as he drew his sword in a flash. "MAGNA BREAK!!" With one swing of his blade, Magna Leomon shattered the barrier protecting the super computer and destroyed the computer with the energy wave generated by the sword. The computer was reduced to nothing but shrapnel. It was better to be certain of its destruction, rather than rely on Exodia's shockwaves to do it.

Magna Leomon raced out of the room, leaving Juri to face the ultimate evil alone. But the girl was ready to face it. It was the least she could do for her beloved Pharaoh.

_Goodbye, my love._

**"NOOOO!!"** Zero realized that his power, although infinite, was just not enough. It was over.

The Eye of Ra exploded with the fury of the battling gods, and they were consumed by their own power. Zero and Juri faded into oblivion, as a heat as strong as the sun reduced them to nothing but dust. The battle had ended, and the threat of Exodia was no more.

  


--

After Zero's defeat, the island was freed from the Shadow Game that had sealed it from the rest of the world. The ships that had carried the players to the island arrived by automated commands preset by Zero. It seemed that the man had some sense of honor, even though he didn't expect to lose.

Jeri explained the entire situation to the others, and Takato happily rejoined the group. Joey got a chance to explain how he faced the deadly Megidramon in one-on-one combat with nothing but his deck of cards and a Duel Ark. It sounded impressive, up until the part where he was knocked senseless. But everyone enjoyed the story nonetheless, because they knew it had a happy ending.

Jeri threw flowers into the ocean for Juri. It was a very personal affair, so she didn't ask the others to accompany her. But when Jeri was finished with her private funeral, she was welcomed by the others with open arms. For the rest of the boat ride, the children were happy.

Ash and Rika had a long talk about everything that happened. Rika confessed her feelings to the trainer, knowing full well that he would respond in the negative. He had Misty, after all - a childhood friend whom he loved, and who more than likely loved him back. There was no reason for Ash to like Rika, or even be friends with her.

Ash simply smiled, kissed Rika lightly on the cheek, and whispered that he would always be her friend. And that any guy would be lucky to have her as a girlfriend. Rika was glad that he felt that way, but she would have been happier if she could be in Misty's shoes.

Yugi, Jeri, and Takato spoke about the past. They knew only snippets about what their past selves had done, and they knew that the issues of the past had a habit of resurfacing in the present. Yugi was unable to summon Yami with the Millennium Puzzle shattered, but he promised that one day, they would get to the bottom of what happened in the past. Juri's sacrifice had reminded them all that the ghosts of the past could affect the present, and the future. And Yugi had a feeling that Juri wouldn't be the last memory to resurface in the modern world.

Yugi spent the rest of the boat-ride putting the puzzle back together. When it was completed, he felt the spirit's presence. Yami said a few words of thanks before returning to the puzzle's confines. Yugi felt safer after knowing that his other self was well.

Sakura was properly introduced to the others, and there was the inevitable mention of Reedington. Ash had been told by an 'awakened' monster, whom he believed had the spirit of his father, that Reedington would be his next destination. Although they summoned Mewtwo to question him, it seemed that the monster had lost its 'living' aspects, and was once again asleep. Whether the monster was reset by Zero's computer system, or Mewtwo himself had resealed his mind, they didn't know. All they knew was that the next challenge lied in Reedington, and Sakura wanted more than anything to go there too. Ash made a deal with Mokuba to join forces and find their way to that town.

Seto Kaiba was on the ship. He seemed disappointed that he wasn't able to face Zero, but he actually seemed happy about Mokuba being safe. Sakura was afraid of what the Kaiba might say upon seeing her. When Seto approached her, he gently patted the girl on the head, and apologized for everything that happened.

"I may not be good at making friends with humans, but I feel that you... are like a little sister to me," he said. "I will try to make up for the mean things I've done to you while I was controlled by my darker tendencies."

Sakura had been overjoyed, and she fondly told 'Onii-chan' that she would do her best to make him proud.

When the ship arrived at the mainland, the first thing on Ash's mind was finding Misty and seeing her walk. The operation should've been finished, but she might've been at the hospital recovering still. So Ash's first goal was to go to the hospital and see how she was doing. But when Ash arrived at the pier, he was shocked to see that Misty and Brock were both there. Misty was sitting in a wheelchair.

Ash stared across the pier sadly. Misty was downcast, unable to face the trainer in her crippled state. Brock silently walked over to where Ash stood and spoke quietly enough so that Misty couldn't here. But the girl seemed to know what was being said.

"The doctors said that it was impossible to repair that kind of spinal damage," Brock whispered. "The best they could do was restore feeling to the leg, but not automation. So they said it was best that she be left the way she is."

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all that had happened, he'd been looking forward to some good news. He spent the entire trip feeling certain that Misty would walk again. But now... that hope was gone."

"She's been depressed ever since," Brock continued. "She won't talk or smile or anything. It's like she's lost the will to live."

Rika stood nearby, shocked at what she was hearing. "No... there's gotta be something that can be done."

Brock sighed. "I've asked every professional I can find, but they all say the same thing. Even Kaiba Corp's robomedical facilities say that it's far too risky to do. Attempting to fix this kind of damage might actually paralyze her completely."

Ash looked up. "There is something that I can do."

Brock and Rika looked at the boy. Neither of them knew what he, a simple trainer, could do that a couple of professionals could not.

Ash walked over to where Misty sat. The girl looked up, and she seemed surprised by what she saw. Ash was actually smiling.

Suddenly, Ash hugged the girl and said that everything would be fine. And that he was glad she came to meet him. Misty apologized for failing to keep her promise - the promise that she would walk across the pier when he came back from the tournament. But Ash said that he was glad to see her, and that was all that mattered.

Misty's mood lightened tremendously. She actually laughed and grabbed Ash's neck in a bear hug. Ash picked Misty up and swung her around in a happy celebration of their reunion. Brock and Rika could only watch and smile.

"Now why didn't I think of that," Brock said, chuckling. He ran over and joined the two kids in celebrating. Misty made a crack about Brock hitting on her nurse, and the three trainers laughed in unison.

Rika watched from a distance. _He's back with his friends, and with the girl that he loves. All is right with the world._ Rika turned and headed towards the boat ramp to look for her fellow Tamers. They'd have a long trip to Shinjuku ahead of them.

"HEY, RIKA!" Ash shouted. Rika froze and turned around. Ash was waving and jumping to get her attention, as if Rika didn't know he was there.

"Come on!" Ash yelled. "We're about to get some food! I wanna tell Misty and Brock all about ya!"

Rika's face turned red, though the trainers couldn't see it from where they were. Although Rika wanted to be with Ash, she didn't think she could look at Misty without feeling sad for herself. "No thanks, I should, um...."

"Pleeeeease!" Ash pressed. "It'll be great!"

Rika wanted to yell at him and put on her badgirl act. But a part of her wanted to be with Ash, and she didn't want to drive him away with her bad attitude. She'd driven away enough people over the course of her young life that way. This time, she wanted to listen to her heart rather than her head. It was risky to open up her heart that way. But risk was a tamer's business.

"I'm coming!" Rika shouted back. She waved and slid down the boat ramp and rushed over to where Ash and his friends were. Rika joined the group and happily met Brock and Misty, each of whom was really polite in their response.

Henry watched Rika leave from the boat above. He expected that they would stay here at the city for a day or two while being interviewed and debriefed. Rika would get to spend plenty of time with the trainers. Just like Henry and Takato would get to spend time with their new friends as well.

"Maybe, just maybe, Rika..." Henry said as the ocean wind blew through his short hair. "...you can still compete for Ash's attention. After all, everyone deserves a rival when it comes to reaching their goal." 

Henry turned and left the edge of the ship. The winds blew, and the sun shined its light, as they always had. The world was at peace.

  


**[End of "Monster Duel Ex"]**

  


  



End file.
